Star Fox Adventures
by Foxillusion
Summary: This storyline, created by the one and only Foxillusion, stars Star Fox, as he struggles to stop Andross's most wicked scheme yet. (Final Version)
1. Part One: Enter Andross

PART ONE: ENTER ANDROSS  
  
Our story takes place eight years after Fox won the SSBM Championship at Intensity. By this point, Peppy had retired, and spended much of his time writing maps. Slippy had quit the Arwing business to persue his technological inspirations. Falco had not been heard from since he lost to Fox. As for Fox, he was the last active Arwing pilot of the Star Fox Team. He took jobs around the Lylat System, trying to earn enough money to support him and his Team. He hadn't had a decent job in about a year, though, so as we begin, the Great Fox isn't in the greatest of conditions...   
  
"Fox! Isn't this music getting on YOUR nerves? I'm trying to work on my maps!"  
  
It was a grim day aboard the Great Fox. Slippy was lazily fixing ROB, Peppy was complaining about Slippy's music, and Fox was sitting idle. He was so bored right then... he really wished an adventure would come along to save him from these two.  
  
He tolerated Peppy's complaint. "OK, old timer. Turn it down, Slippy!"  
  
Slippy muttered to himself about Fox's bossiness, then tossed a wrench at Fox's jukebox, causing it to slowly grind to a halt.  
  
"HEY!!! That costs money, you know, which I MIGHT add, we have almost none of!"  
  
Slippy looked like he was about to say something in response, but was cut short by an incomming transmission...  
  
"Look, guys! It's General Pepper!"  
  
Peppy, Slippy, and even ROB turned to look at the holographic projection of the mutt's head. He hadn't contacted them since the Andross Incident.  
  
"I have a new mission for you, Fox! You're to head over to Dinosaur Planet, because recently, large chunks of the planet have been breaking from the surface. This may lead to an explosion, and that would disrupt the entire Lylat System! You're to head down to the surface to investigate. On arrival, be sure to talk to the Queen Earthwalker, as she'll be able to help you. Oh, and by the way... we have recieved your request. If you are successful, the money will be forwarded to you immediately. Good luck. Pepper Out."  
  
Fox grinned. "You heard the General. Let's Do It!"  
  
Peppy smiled. Slippy gave the thumbs - up. Minutes later, Fox launched from the Great Fox in his Arwing, headed for the Planet...  
  
Fox soon landed after lifting the pitifully weak force field that surrounded the Planet. Fox suddenly got a call on his communicator...  
  
"Great job, Fox!" General Pepper had called again. He continued, "For a moment, I thought you weren't going to make it." His voice dripped with sarcasm.  
  
Fox rolled his eyes. "Very funny, sir..."  
  
"I know. Now, lisen up, because this is important. Contact a crew member with this communicator, and they will respond with as much information as they can possibly give. Remember, now... Slippy is a General Advisor, Peppy is where you go for Maps, and I can give you information on your current status... FOX! Are you paying attention?!?"  
  
"Yes, sir..."  
  
"Good. Now, I'll notify you if anything else comes up. Remember, your first goal is to locate and talk to the Queen Earthwalker."  
  
"I will, sir. Fox OUT." Fox flipped the communicator off. He had grown tired of having to listen to that old fogey already, and he was just getting started...  
  
And so, Fox started walking away from his Arwing, ready to begin his adventure, when he suddenly heard a loud noise. To his shock and surprise, the pieces of Planet that had drifted apart had started to float back towards the surface! It appeared that the spellstones had been contained! How had this happened? ANOTHER hero had risen? Who was this?!?  
  
The Planet took about 5 minutes to pull itself together. Finally, Fox looked around at the Thorntails, who were cheering. Everything was right again.  
  
Fox's communicator had buzzed to life. "Fox! My, that didn't take long at all! You sure work quickly these days! Congratulations!"  
  
"Well... er... Sir, you see..."  
  
But before Fox could finish, a loud rumbling sound rose from the ground. A large ship was flying towards Fox! He hopped in his Arwing and took off, ready for a fight. He was so pissed off right then that he blasted the ship right away.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Now, Fox. Is that any way to treat the saviour of the Lylat System?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "YOU!!! You're the one who finished this story before it even began! Give us a visual and show your face, coward!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "HA! Coward! That IS a good one, Fox... do you have any idea of how much work it was to get this planet straight again?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Of COURSE I do! I MADE the friggin game, you boob! SHOW your FACE so I know WHO it is I'm PULVERIZING!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Very well, McCloud. Downloading visual..."  
  
Fox sat back in his chair. BUZZEEP! "Take your time, traitor..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Why, Fox. I don't understand why you don't trust me. You don't even know who I am."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Of course I do! It's Andross, you fool! I'm not that stupid! Probably 9 out of 10 people reading this story had guessed THAT..."  
  
Sure enough, as soon as the visual downloaded, there was Andross... not that huge mutation, but the REAL Andross, the monkey. He was grinning that Andross grin, yet it was lacking that evil tinge to it...  
  
BUZZEEP! "Very good, McCloud. But, I'll bet you can't guess how I came back! And no, I DIDN'T harness the power of the Krazoa!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Obviously, a collection of about, I'm guessing seven of your closest followers pitched in and used the power of the spellstones to revive you."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Very good! But, there's only four spellstones. How did the other three help me?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well, THAT I don't know..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "MUAHAHAHAHA! You haven't changed one bit, McCloud. Just like that father of yours... ah! Now, to business. I'm about to contact General Pepper, notifying him of my goodliness. He will then pay me the money intended for you. At this point, I'll have your glory, your cash, and your dignity too, McCloud! They'll never suspect my master plan to DESTROY THE LYLAT SYSTEM!!!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "You moron! You actually think that they'll PAY you?! They'd never trust you..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox, I'm a changed monkey. I'm not bad anymore. I do good around the galexy." Andross put his full confidence into those words.  
  
Fox actually believed him until he remembered that Andross was planning to destroy the Lylat System again.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Oh, McCloud, the fun doesn't end there, either! Not only will you be overshadowed, but you'll be exiled, too! MUAHAHAHAHA!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "What the HECK are you talking about?!?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "You'll find out soon enough. I've gotta shoot now, Fox... but in the meantime, here's some entertainment for me until you're banished. GANONDORF!!! GET YOUR FAT ARSE OUT THERE AND KILL FOX MCCLOUD! Andross out."  
  
The visual went blank. Suddenly, an X-Wing flew out from the Large Ship.  
  
BUZZAAP! "Ah, SHOOT! HOW am I supposed to shout insults without knowing the proper frequency? Ah, forget that..."  
  
Ganondorf opened the ship's top hatch. He stuck his head out and screamed, "DIE, MCCLOUD!!!"  
  
His purpose of shouting insults now fulfilled, he closed the hatch and flew at Fox!!! Well, of COURSE Fox could best him, Ganondorf still couldn't even correct his frequency. Fox shot a well-placed bomb at the left half of the X-Wing, which triggered an explosion. Ganondorf sailed downwards in a trail of smoke.  
  
BUZZEEP! "BAHAHAHA! Now, THAT is entertainment! Ah, well, Fox. I must now go and collect my reward. All I have to do is turn in my captive here."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Your CAPTIVE?!"  
  
Another visual flashed on Fox's screen. Fox recognized him as General Scales, bound and gagged! Fox realized that either Andross was planning to split the reward with Scales, or he just caught him and made him out to be the bad guy. Andross had already admitted to being guilty, so... the only one that would suspect anything was him!  
  
BUZZEEP! "So long, McCloud! Perhaps we'll see each other again in the not too distant future..."  
  
The large ship soared off into space. Fox gritted his teeth and pulled the Arwing into a dive, followed by a graceful landing on the sweeping grasses of Thorntail Valley. Fox hopped out, then marched straight over to a large hole in the ground. That was where Ganondorf landed. Fox pulled Ganondorf out of the hole by his neck.  
  
"Talk. WHAT is Andross doing?"  
  
"Andross has pulled the four Spellstones from their force points and replaced them with fakes. These fake stones will absorb a certain amount of energy, then explode. This will cause the entire planet to shatter into millions of tiny pieces. It's rigged to explode in seven days from now, at 12:00 Dino time. Before then, Andross plans to be honored by absolutely everyone in the Lylat System for proving that you and General Scales worked together to destroy the planet, and collect their large reward that an inside source has prepared for him. After this, Andross will use a mighty device he has prepared to keep the Lylat System within balence after Dinosaur Planet explodes. He will rule the entire System, and if he is opposed, will simply shut off his machine and throw the entire System into oblivion. That's just the basics, but there's lots of small details as well."  
  
"What?!? That dirty cheater... making me out to be the bad guy... but... why are you giving me such a straight answer? Why aren't you resisting me at all?"  
  
"Put it this way. The prime reason is, I'm damn tired of you beating me up. I can't even insult you properly. I've helped you, now just PLEASE leave me alone..."  
  
"Ok, whatever... but, why would Andross trust you with so much information?"  
  
"Actually, he expected me to die from the fall. Somehow, though, I can survive through these things. Must be the power of the Triforce or something."  
  
"So, I've got to find the four real Spellstones and return them, disable Andross's giant machine and expose his treachery to the Lylat System, all before the seven day time limit expires?"  
  
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."  
  
"Good. Let's get started."  
  
"LET'S?!? I thought you were going to leave me alone!"  
  
"Well, if Andross really told you EVERYTHING, you can tell me where to find this giant machine, the four real spellstones, and where Andross is hiding."  
  
"That IS true... but, what's in it for me?"  
  
"I'll show you the proper way to use an on-ship communicator..."  
  
"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!? LET'S GO!!!"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
So, Ganondorf led Fox in the direction of the storage area for the two Fire Spellstones. Fox was quite surprised when Ganondorf started leading him towards the Ocean Force Point, but as Ganondorf explained, who would look for Fire Spellstones in an Ocean surrounding? Well, Fox saw his point, so in no time, the two were passing through Lightfoot Village on their way to Cape Claw. Ganondorf was starting to hear some strange rustlings in the trees above.  
  
"Pssst! Fox! I think some Lightfoots..."  
  
"LightFEET."  
  
"Whatever. They're in the trees above us. Should we turn back?"  
  
"Ah, don't worry about it. The rustling is way too clunky for any Lightfoot. It's probably just a strong gust. Trust me, if Lightfeet are in the trees above, you will NOT know until it's too late."  
  
Ganondorf felt a bit better, but glanced upwards occasionally after that (just to be sure).  
  
Suddenly...  
  
SHUNKA!  
  
As it turned out, the rustling WAS too clunky for a Lightfoot, but wasn't too clunky for Donkey Kong, who had just swung down and pinned Fox. Fox kicked DK in the stomach and jumped back. DK started to pound the ground in fury, but Fox jumped into a tree to avoid the earthquake. DK jumped up to grab Fox, but Fox used an Illusion to down his opponent. DK slumped to the ground.  
  
"Ah, jeez... another of Andross's lackys. I really pity his taste in henchmen these days... I mean, Star Wolf was at least challenging."  
  
"Oh, and I WASN'T?" Ganondorf was offended.  
  
"Well, if you're hit down on the first bomb, and can't even contact me to shout an insult, I wouldn't really be calling you a quality pilot."  
  
"GET OFF MY CASE! I've NEVER flown one of those new-fangled things in my life! NEVER! Horse was the only mode of transportation, if not just by walking! Oh, I had a loyal dark steed, of course... quite a tough cookie, he was..."  
  
"Fastinating. Let's keep going."  
  
WHUMPH.  
  
DK had gotten up, and buried Ganondorf with a Headbutt! Fox quickly vaulted over Ganondorf's torso that stuck out of the ground (which was yelling, "You fat, ugly butt-brain!!!") and went into a Fire Fox. DK was blasted backwards in a wreath of fire. Fox pulled Ganondorf out of the ground, and the two continued onwards to Cape Claw...  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Pae sixtee scaraabs to entar Cape Claaaw."  
  
"What?! I don't have any scarabs, you stupid turtle-freak!"  
  
"Ahaah! Yuu not go iin, than."  
  
"Uuurgh... WHAT are we going to DO!? There's a silly turtle that won't open a gate here! He wants sixtee scaraabs!"  
  
"I don't have sixtee scaraabs! How do we get past this moron?"  
  
"If only there was a Staff Rocket Boost pad nearby, I could use it to launch us OVER this wall!"  
  
"You mean, that thing there?"  
  
Fox glanced over to see a small, gold square that emmited blue sparks.  
  
"Yes! But... I DON'T HAVE MY STAFF! I was supposed to get it in this Adventure! Now everything's topsy-turvey! HOW do I find my staff?"  
  
KLONK!  
  
A staff fell from the sky and landed on Fox's head.  
  
"Ah! My staff! Oh, right... KRYSTAL'S staff!" Krystal was flying overhead, on her Cloudrunner companion. She had dropped it from above to aid him in his quest. Fox smiled up at her. I mean, she COULD have given him a lift to Cape Claw, but this was much better than nothing.  
  
"Grab on!"  
  
"BwwwaaaaaAAAAAAHHHH!"  
  
Fox and Ganondorf soared over the wall. Fox landed gracefully on the other side. Someone had dug a 20 - foot pit, and Ganondorf fell in this as he landed on the other side.  
  
"Oooowww..."  
  
Anyway, Fox and Ganondorf DID eventually make it to Cape Claw, safe and sound. Well, not completely safe, but sound. (Whatever sound means.) Ganondorf led Fox into a deep, dark cave. Once inside, Ganondorf did a hula dance and a secret passage opened. From there, Ganondorf grabbed a spoon off his belt and shoved it into a wall of the secret passage. A secret compartment slid outwards, and Ganondorf jumped on top. He used this platform to shove his spoon into yet another spot in the wall. Using this technique, he climbed the side of the massive passage s - l - o - w - l - y. A few hours, hula dances, and spoon jumps later, the first of the Spellstones was in Fox and Ganondorf's posession.  
  
During this entire process, Fox stood at the entrance to the passage, still scarred for life at the sight of Ganondorf hula - dancing. However, the two left the cave with Spellstone # 1, so Fox wasn't complaining.  
  
"I still don't understand. WHY would Andross reveal all these stupid little details to you? That's just bonkers!"  
  
"I know. I can only imagine what he would do to me if he found me alive." Ganondorf imagined for a second, let out a yelp, and continued on his way. Evidently, imagining something that unpleasent wasn't something he wanted to do.  
  
"So, where can we find the second Fire Spellstone?"  
  
"Oh, that one's underwater. We'll have to either rent or build ourselves a Submarine, then dive down beneeth yon temple to retrieve it."  
  
"UNDERWATER?! What if the stone... GOES OUT?!? It IS a FIRE SPELLSTONE, you know!!!"  
  
"Yes, well, I didn't think anyone would look for it down here. I MEAN... oh, no..."  
  
"YOU didn't think that? HEY! YOU made up this entire plan for Andross, didn't you?!? All this genius was YOUR idea!!!"  
  
Ganondorf sighed. "Yes, it was me. I thought of the whole thing. Andross hired me for that sole purpose... then, he discarded me by putting me into the thing I feared the most... a spaceship. Not only was entertaining for him, but he would eliminate me so I couldn't leak any information about "HIS" plot."  
  
"That MONSTER! He has to be stopped! GANONDORF!!!"  
  
"GAAH! Don't yell like that! What is it?"  
  
"Sorry, I'm in a bit of a rage right now. Okay, I'm under control now... whew. I just REALLY hate it when people treat others like that. Ganondorf! Not only will I teach you how to use a space communicator, but I'll teach you to FLY the ship as well!"  
  
"You're kidding with me! No one's ever done something like that for me before!... Thank you."  
  
"No problem. Well, let's get that sub ready, okay?"  
  
"YEAH! Let's DO this thang!"  
  
BUZZEEP! Fox's communicator ominously buzzed to life. "Ahhh... the son of James McCloud," said a sinister and evil-sounding voice.  
  
BUZZEEP! "You know, Andross, you can just call me Fox. We're on first name terms by now."  
  
BUZZEEP! "I think not, McCloud. I have to sound tough. I'd just like to let you know I've just collected my beautiful reward from the Cornerian Ministry of Defence. A very large sum of money. Why, I may just buy myself a Great Fox and blow it up at my own leisure!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Shut up, Andross! You may have fooled them, but I'll expose you for the traitor you are! That reward will come to me in a flash!... By the way, what WAS that 'Inside Source' that hooked you up with so much dough?"  
  
BUZZEEP! Andross sighed. "McCloud, McCloud, McCloud. You have not been monitering me for the last few years. I've had many people working on that money. Oh, you'll just give it up, eventually. Not only are you outrageously outnumbered, but the only other being alive that knows my plan is no longer alive!! Wait, that came out wrong... er, forget that! You may have noticed a few of your old enemies back from Team Alliance, eh? Well, surprise, surprise. I've REVIVED the Alliance! They're back, and better than ever! Plus, they've been working undercover as members of the Cornerian Ministry of Defence to get me that reward! And instead of that dumb Falco as their leader, I am! TREMBLE at my MIGHTINESS!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "What??? Then where IS Falco?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Not here, I'll tell you," replied Andross, surprisingly casually. "He hates you, we both know it. You completely robbed him of that SSBM Championship all those years ago, and he's just gone off to some corner to sulk with himself. Completely pathetic, really. So, I wasn't able to get him back for Team Alliance. HIS OWN LOSS! He'll be trembling before me in a matter of days, as will YOU! BAHAHAA!"  
  
The communicator shut off as Andross signed out. Fox's situation was suddenly even more desperate than before. With the Alliance revived and stalking him every step of the way, he might not accomplish all his goals before the seven day time limit expires. This could be much more difficult than Fox thought...  
  
----- END OF DAY ONE -----  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
----- DAY TWO BEGINS -----  
  
Fox had fallen asleep on the grass. He awoke to the smell of morning dew on the unusually calm grass. Hard to believe that in six short days, it would all be oblivion if he didn't do something about it.  
  
Ganondorf had noticed Fox wake up. He had woken up about an hour earlier. He mentioned, "You know, Fox, if Andross has gathered the Alliance to be his henchmen, I think WE should get the old Star Fox team gang back together to help combat them. I was trying to compose a list of them, and I came up with these:  
  
- Fox  
- Luigi  
- Bowser  
- Peach  
- Ganondorf  
- Dr. Mario  
- Young Link  
- Mewtwo  
- Pikachu  
- Pichu  
- Jigglypuff  
- Samus  
  
So, if we can just gather as many of them again as possible, they'll be able to combat the army that Andross assembled! But, how to do that in less than six days..."  
  
"Ganondorf, that's brilliant! I can send my team over to check it out! Better yet," Fox said, gears in his head clicking, "We can even get the Blue Marine from Slippy to retrieve the other Fire Spellstone! But..." Fox continued, talking out his thoughts, which were suddenly going sour, "They think I'm the enemy now! At least, I think they do... I'll try contacting them."  
  
--- An Hour Later... ---  
  
"So, that's where we're at," Fox finished. He had just filled Slippy, Peppy, and ROB in on their situation. "Will you help us? Do you BELIEVE us??"  
  
" 'Course we do, Fox! We've been partners for years! In fact, I'm dropping the Blue Marine and Landmaster Tank to your location as well. They have impact reduction units, so they'll be alright when they hit the ground. Just be sure they don't land on your head!"  
  
Fox chuckled at Slippy's joke, thanked his team for their support, and wished them well on their voyage to recruit Team Star Fox back together. The Great Fox ignited its rockets and soared out of sight.  
  
Suddenly...  
  
KLANKCLATTERWHAM.  
  
Both the Landmaster AND Blue Marine had landed on Ganondorf. A small chasm appeared where he used to be standing, and he was buried beneeth the two vehicles.  
  
Fox peered into the pit. "Quit lying around, Ganondorf! We've got to get the Blue Marine into the water!"  
  
Within the NEXT two hours, Fox and Ganondorf had worked out their plan. Fox had taught Ganondorf how to use the Blue Marine, and Ganondorf agreed to recover the second Fire Spellstone from underwater. Fox was to travel to Snowhorn Mountain to get the two Water Spellstones ("But, won't they FREEZE?"). Ganondorf had given Fox directions so that he could drive the Landmaster there, and recover the Spellstones. Then, they were to meet at the Force Point Temple to replace all four spellstones at once, to avoid an early explosion. They then would meet up with Peppy, Slippy, ROB, and the whole re-united Star Fox crew to plan and launch an attack on Andross, in a desperate, one-chance attempt to destroy his device (for it would still be able to throw the Lylat System out of balence) and expose his treachery to the entire System.  
  
So, the REAL quest now began... 


	2. Part Two: Mission Log Data

PART TWO: MISSION LOG DATA  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION ONE (Ground - Based Units)  
  
--- FOX ---  
  
* Day 2, Evening *  
  
It's not easy at all to explain how a Blue - Marine works, trust me. Especially if it's to a total nimrod who doesn't even know how to pilot a basic 2-wing ship. But, after two hours of grevious work, I was able to get him to use it semi-properly, which will have to do for now, since we're on a bit of a time limit. The second day is drawing to a close, and I'm kinda toying with the idea of getting some more sleep, since I haven't had much lately, but I don't want to leave this "Saving the System" business to the last few hours, like that Link kid in Majora's Mask. I want plenty of time to take the monkey down. He seems a lot smarter than before.  
  
*Day 3, Early Morning*  
  
I've stopped for a break. I've been trekking towards Snowhorn Mountain, which lies within about a half - day's drive from here. Ganondorf hasn't contacted me yet, so he must still be recovering the spellstones. I hope he hasn't run into a combat situation, because I successfully and soundly defeated him while I was training him. I was equipped with my bare hands and he had full strength. I'm not even sure if he could strike a Goldfish down, but he was able to manouver the robotic recovery arms well enough, so he shouldn't run into too much trouble. Perhaps he's still having communicator problems, though. Or, perhaps, I'm worrying myself too much. He should be able to handle his situation.  
  
--- GANONDORF ---  
  
*Day 3, Early Morning*  
  
BUZZAAP! BUZZEAP! BUZZOOP! I am SO sick of this communicator! No matter how hard I try, I can never get the right signal! I have recovered the second Fire Spellstone, without any conflict, but now Fox will think I haven't! It's HIS fault for not teaching me how to USE this! It took him long enough to explain the controls for the Blue Marine, though. I understood everything. It may have taken awhile to understand it, but I got it eventually! As for Fox, I hope he's doing well on his leg. I plan to set out for the Force Point at noon, provided I can't contact Fox at all.  
  
--- FOX ---  
  
*Day 3, Late Morning*  
  
I finally managed to contact Ganondorf and explain, over communicator, how to use it. This took me a half-hour. It'll probably take me longer to explain how an on-ship communicator works, but if he's helping us as he is, I'll make that sacrifice for the System. I'm almost to the first of the two Water Spellstones here on Snowhorn Mountain, and I've managed to build myself a fire. I'd rather save my energy units in my portable heater until I really need them, so I'm glad Peppy was able to teach me basic ground survival skills. It's really cold, and I'm grateful for the fire, but it can only get colder from here. I'm thankful for my natural fur coat right about now. Oh, and I got a contact from Slippy. He's done some successful recruiting, so refer to that section of the log for further detail.  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION TWO (Air - Based Units)  
  
--- SLIPPY ---  
  
*Day Three, Mid - Morning*  
  
I've just contacted Fox. We've been recruiting our past alliances to help combat THE Alliance, so we can stop Andross's evil plot. So far, we've paid visits to the Mushroom Kindom and PokéPlanet and recovered Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff. We already had Ganondorf with us, so all that's left is to recover Young Link and Samus. So far, no conflicts. I'm thinking that Andross can't really attack us without looking guilty, so we're in the clear, for now. Fox, however, will most likely run into some trouble at Snowhorn Mountain. Ganondorf said he might, unless "it" had frozen over. We're all wondering what the heck "it" is. Fox'll just have to find out himself. I'm sure he can handle it.  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION THREE (Evil Units)  
  
*Day 1, Early Afternoon*  
  
--- ANDROSS ---  
  
Oh, what a happy day for me! The reward that Alliance reps prepared for me has finally been recovered. (By me.) I'm on top of the world! The richest monkey in the entire System! I'm the Bill Gates of Lylat!!! But, that's not good enough for me. No, not at all. I must be the RULER of Lylat. The KING of Lylatt. The single Lylattian that reigns SUPREME! This is already underway. Within six days, Dinosaur Planet will be destroyed, and I will activate my S-C Device. Hence, the ONLY force holding the entire System within balence! Then, ALL in this system will have to obey my EVERY wish. Ah, and as for Star Fox... he is undoubtedly recovering the four Spellstones as I type. As if he'd even have a clue of where to look! Ganondorf and I were the only ones that knew that, and he is now dead. Fox will surely fail. But, if, by some unlucky miricle he recovers the Spellstones, I've got a backup plan. One that even Ganondorf never knew of. The System is on the verge of a new era... the Era of ANDROSS!  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION ONE  
  
--- FOX ---  
  
*Day 3, Mid - Afternoon*  
  
I've barely survived an encounter with a horrible beast! This creature had giant wings, like a dragonfly, but an entirely different body... a sick, twisted biological creation from the bowls of Andross's warped brain. He will pay for such federal crimes as these. The Cornerian Ministry of Defence is blinded by Andross's drastic change in personality, and take me as the criminal. I never thought it possible, but I realise that I was professionally framed. Many people have been seriously hurt in Andross's plot, including Ganondorf, Donkey Kong, General Scales (He was used by Andross to gain the Cornerian Ministry of Defence's trust), and within five days, possibly countless other innocent victims. Not only Cornerians, but all creatures within the Lylat system. Anyways, I WAS able to recover the Spellstone and defeat the creature... barely. The Landmaster will need some time to recover.  
  
*Day 3, Late Evening*  
  
Since the Early Evening, I've been travelling in the Landmaster towards my second Spellstone goal. It seems to be another half-day trek. After I collect it, I plan to rest and recover the Landmaster's energy, then start out for the Force Point Temple. Ganondorf contacted me again, to tell me that he has arrived at the Force Point Temple, through the Ocean Half, since he was still in the Blue Marine. I'll be going through the Volcano Half. I only hope the Landmaster can make it through those temperatures, but if my furry body can make it, so should its metallic exterior. Unless, of course, I do something stupid like drive it through the lava or whatnot.  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION THREE  
  
--- ANDROSS ---  
  
*Day 4, Early Morning*  
  
I've just been woken from my slumber by a bruised and battered Donkey Kong. He tells me that he had been pummelled by Fox and Gannondorf three days ago, and had just arrived back. This takes me by utter surprise! Gannondorf? ALIVE?!?? That is SO not fair! I put him in an X - WING! He should be DEAD! This is certainly a major flaw in my plan! But, this is also where my pre-planning genius comes into play! I had a BOMB planted at the core of Dinosaur Planet that not even Ganondorf knew about. I give the signal, the 5:00 timer begins. When the bomb detonates, the energy in the core will be too much for the Spellstones to absorb, and they will be destroyed, along with the entire pathetic planet. Then, the rest of my plan shall continue as, er, planned. The Lylat System will STILL be doomed!  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION TWO  
  
--- PEPPY ---  
  
*Day 4, Mid Morning*  
  
Wow, we haven't slept for days, but it's completely worth it. We've recruited Young Link and Samus, and are heading back to Dinosaur Planet to re-unite the enire Star Fox team! Ganondorf is waiting at the Force Point Temple, our rondezvous point. Star Fox contacted us to tell us that he successfully recovered the fourth Spellstone, and is recovering the Landmaster for the trip back. He mentioned conflict, but didn't say what he fought. I wonder what it was...?  
  
MISSION LOG - SECTION ONE  
  
--- FOX ---  
  
*Day 4, Mid Morning*  
  
The Landmaster is starting to recover from our battle. This time, it was a mechanical robot. Pret-ty pathetic, actually, until it started flying. I was able to hover and engage in a quickly - won dogfight, but it took a lot out of the Landmaster. I really hope it'll make the journey. My portable heating device is serving me well now since it's completely freezing out here. All I have left to say is, Andross had better enjoy the few moments he's actually liked by anyone, because we're ready to expose him to everyone!  
  
--- END MISSION LOG DATA --- 


	3. Part Three: The Assult Of The SC Device ...

PART THREE: THE ASSULT OF THE S-C DEVICE VESSEL  
  
Fox trundled up to the temple through the ebbing sea of lava surrounding its exterior. On the far side he caught a glimpse of his Blue Marine, resting on a pier next to the temple. Fox thought to himself, well, at least Ganondorf wasn't lying.  
  
Fox entered the temple, its damp, harsh winds whipping his fur. He clutched his two hard-earned Spellstone prizes in his hands as he crept towards the entrance to the main chamber. As he entered this chamber, his fur stood on end in surprise. The place was enormous! Four giant beams of energy, being contained within four fraud Spellstones, shaking now that they had absorbed such power. And there, next to them, was Ganondorf, sitting with the two Fire Spellstones and looking a bit miffed.  
  
"Thought you wouldn't make it, Fox..."  
  
"I ran into some trouble. Come on, let's get this done. Now, remember, we'll have to replace them all at once, and quickly. If Andross sees any energy escape, he'll know what we're doing, and we'll be busted. So get yours into position. On my signal, we'll switch the stones."  
  
Ganondorf did as Fox said, and they switched the stones. The real Spellstones had been replaced, foiling one part of Andross's plot!  
  
"Now, we'll have to launch these fake stones into space, so their energy won't hurt anybody... but we'll need the Great Fox to do that. So, we'll get to wait it out."  
  
So, Fox and Ganondorf just kind of sat down and waited. It was rather awkward. Eight years ago, Fox blasted Ganondorf off his ship to take the SSBM Championship from him. Only four DAYS ago, Fox blasted Ganondorf out of the sky again and almost took his life. And, yet... none of that was as bad as what Andross had made Ganondorf do. Use him as the brains of his operation, take all the credit, then try to kill him off. So, Fox couldn't help but feel sorry for the green figure sitting opposite him in that chamber. He never got any slack.  
  
"So... erm..." Fox mumbled, making a lousy attempt at conversation, "You all ready to beat up the Alliance again?"  
  
"As long as I take Link down again, I'll be happy with my accomplishments."  
  
"Well, ehm..... that's nice....."  
  
The Great Fox finally arrived to break up this idle chatter. It was the late evening of Day 4, on the verge of Day 5. In exactly two days from now, Andross would move to take over Lylat, and Fox would have to be there to stop him. Fox shuddered. That wasn't much time to prepare to attack his ship.  
  
"Hey, Fox..."  
  
Fox was still thinking about Andross when Ganondorf spoke up. "Yeah?"  
  
"You know that attacking Andross will be like proving yourself guilty."  
  
" 'Course. That's why I intend to get evidence of Andross's treachery."  
  
"Very good, Fox. I see this isn't your first encounter with a genius. Anyway, while I was working WITH Andross, I prepared an extra set of blueprints of his machine, and stored them in my personal safe. Andross didn't know about it. It was where I kept my most important things. If you can get me there, I'll not only be able to get you the blueprints, but some weaponry for our team as well. You'll have to give me cover as I crack the safe, though."  
  
"Thanks, Ganondorf! That shouldn't be a problem."  
  
This was said just as the Great Fox beamed them up to the ship. So, as the waves of matter distorted his speech, it sounded more like, "Hank, Hanonho! At oul be prole."  
  
When Fox got back up to the ship, he was relieved to see his entire re-assembled crew. Before he knew it, he was in Samus's embrace.  
  
"Heard you needed some backup."  
  
"It'd be handy. We're in a tight spot right now... wow, it's been awhile. How've you been?"  
  
So, as Fox and Samus caught up, Ganondorf was busy explaining the interior of Andross's control ship.  
  
"So, we're going to have to get through this passage," Ganondorf pointed out on his 3-D holographic projection. "Once we're in here, I'll have to crack a safe. Then, stand by, as I'll be getting each of you your upgraded blaster. I'll also grab my just-in-case C-4 bomb, sos that we'll be able to destroy the weapon. Once we've done that, we'll be picked up from the ship here. Any questions?"  
  
The crew just sat there, slightly confused as to how the heck Ganondorf knew all this. Fox, who was sitting nearby with Samus, chuckled to himself.  
  
The Great Fox slowly drifted to where Ganondorf said Andross's device would be hidden. While that happened, the entire Star Fox team prepared themselves for combat. Everyone was armed with a basic blaster, with the obvious exception of Samus, who had a canon of her own. Everyone else could be found training and perfecting their skills.  
  
Finally, the S-C Device Vessel came into view. Everyone crowded around the ship's portal for a look. It was monsterous! Like a massive floating giant, the ship floated closer and closer, as Ganondorf explained that this S-C Device (or, System Control Device) had a main control room, where the C-4 bomb would be planted to destroy the ship. The entire mission was mapped out with expert precision. Even Andross wouldn't have expected it. Problem was...  
  
"The ship is empty!"  
  
"WHAAT?!?"  
  
"Our scanners aren't picking up any signs of life within that craft. Either they've evacuated it, or somebody beat us to it..."  
  
"Andross didn't mention this to me, ever..." Ganondorf looked as confused as the rest of the team.  
  
The Great Fox linked to the craft using Space Tubing. The enitre Star Fox team boarded, equipped with weaponry and all.  
  
"Where IS everybody?"  
  
"Oh, the irony... we came here expecting Andross, the highest of importance of evil. Now, there isn't even a tiny shread of evil anywhere in here!"  
  
"I'm not so sure about that, Ganondorf. Everyone, stay close. I smell a rat."  
  
Sure enough, a cloak in front of Fox shimmered and disappeared, revealing Mario.  
  
"Yup, I was sure I smelled a rat."  
  
"A-shut up, a-looserss! You-a shall now a-face the wrath of-a Andross!!! A-ATAAAACK!!!"  
  
Suddenly, the entire Alliance uncloaked and charged at Team Star Fox! It was the 8-year ago fight all over again. Extreme chaos. Fox and Ganondorf were just able to squeeze out of the massive melee. Fox caught glimpses of the Ice Climbers hanging onto Bowser, who ran around dousing flames on Yoshi. Roy was duelling Young Link, sword - to - sword, and Jigglypuff was jumping up and down on Ness, whos yo-yo was wrapped around Pikachu's neck. Fox and Ganondorf raced down the passage, Ganondorf morphing to Ganon as they ran. They finally reached the storage room where the safe was.  
  
"Well? What are you waiting for?? Crack it!!"  
  
CRAAACK.  
  
Forget locks. Ganon sliced the top 1/3 of the safe off.  
  
"BE CAREFUL!!! THERE'S A FRIGGIN C-4 BOMB IN THERE!!!!!"  
  
"Sorry... I kinda get over-violent when I'm in Ganon morph... oh! Here's the firearms!"  
  
Ganon stepped back as a small pile of upgraded firearms, a C-4 bomb, and a package of paper tumbled out of the safe. The bomb looked like it had been broken off from something... Fox quickly shook that off. He needed the team to come pick up the firearms! Swiping up the Blueprints Ganon had passed him and pocketing them, he screamed down the passage, "TEAM STAR FOX! TO THE SAFE! TO THE SAAAFE!"   
  
Fox soon heard the sound of clattering feet, paws, and high heels down the passage. One by one, the members of his team popped into the room. They finally sealed off the door. As of now, the plan was working properly. Each team member chucked away their basic blaster and grabbed an upgraded one. Ganon took charge of the situation.  
  
"Right. Bowser? Let's take this wall down."  
  
CRASHBATTERWHAM.  
  
The entire wall broke through to reveal the main chamber! Ganon immediately morphed back to Ganondorf to set the bomb (YOU try setting a C-4 bomb with those fingers). The others worked at barricading all three entrances to the place, including the one they "made". Finally, the bomb was set into place, just as the Great Fox's space tubing penotrated the window, sealing off the gap to space. There was now a safe passage to the Great Fox through the tubing! They had to hurry, though, as that bomb's timer was only at 5:00!  
  
"Let's go, team."  
  
"Can't let you do that, Star Fox!"  
  
"Andross has ordered us to take you down."  
  
"Peppy! Long time, no see!"  
  
"Andross's enemy is MY enemy!"  
  
"No, not... STAR WOLF!"  
  
The entire Star Wolf team was de-cloaking, right in front of the Space Tube! One by one, they climbed up into the Great Fox. Team Star Fox tried to stop them, but he was too late, as the Space Tube retracted, leaving them stranded on the ship!  
  
Fox desperately glanced around. "SAMUS!!!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You have to activate your Foto-Suit! Use it to get to the Great Fox! You have to re-activate the Space Tube! FAAAST!"  
  
Without a second thought, Samus plunged herself through the airlock and into the open space. Her suit couldn't take it too long. She had to get to the ship as quickly as she could.  
  
Suddenly...  
  
TSEWWW! TSEWWW!  
  
Bolts blasted past Samus! She glanced over her shoulder to see Marth and Roy activating space blasters to take her out! As she watched, Fox, Pikachu, and Young Link appeared there to break it up. Samus continued on, whilst glancing at her HUD. There was 2:30 until the bomb went off.  
  
She finally reached the airlock to the Great Fox. She drifted in to see... total mayhem. The lounge area was completely trashed. The Star Wolf team was chuckling merrily over the limp bodies of Slippy and Peppy! Had they KILLED them, or just knocked them out?!? Samus tried not to think about death, and snuck over to the space-tubing unit.   
  
Like a silent, white snake drifting through space, the tube re-attached to the S-C Device Vessel. The Star Fox team quickly retreated, as the bomb's timer wound down to 30 seconds! They didn't have time to retract the tubing, so they just cut it off as they flew away. As for Star Wolf, well, do YOU think they'd have a chance against TWELVE opponents??? They realised what had happened too late, and were apprehended by the Star Fox Team easily.  
  
Ganondorf activated an on-ship computer. A visual flashed on-screen of the S-C Device Control Vessel.  
  
"Three."  
  
"Two."  
  
"One."  
  
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM.  
  
The entire ship was immediately engulfed in flames. The bomb had been placed perfectly, and the Device was 100% unoperational.  
  
"He-ey!" Peach spoke up. "Did the Alliance get away? Or were they blown up?"  
  
Fox glanced to the rear-ship visual to see an escape vessel fly away from the wreck.  
  
"FOLLOW THAT SHIP!" Fox commanded.  
  
And so, their quest to defeat Andross once and for all, REALLY got underway.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
They followed the ship for half a day. During that time, there was nothing much to do, except watch the poor, helpless Alliance make their way towards safety, which was undoubtedly provided by Andross himself. They flew a long ways back, and had Slippy's newly-designed cloaking system to cloak the Great Fox. (Oh, Slippy and Peppy were NOT dead, as it turns out.) So, for that time, once again, there was much training going on, to prepare Team Star Fox for their combat. Undoubtedly, Andross would have them fight hand-to-hand again, but Star Fox had no problem with that, himself. They were victorious last time, anyway. HOW hard could it possibly be? Anyway, Ganondorf could be found training with Mewtwo:  
  
"Okay, Ganondorf. Send a projectile attack at me so I can practice my confusion."  
  
"I don't HAVE a projectile attac... waiiit. I've got it..."  
  
Ganondorf headed over to Slippy's mechanics corner, and picked up a wrench. Throwing it straight up, he Warlock-Punched it towards Mewtwo.  
  
Bwazooo!  
  
Mewtwo reflected it right back. It nailed Ganondorf in the stomach, and he tumbled back and slumped against the wall...  
  
Meanwhile, Dr. Mario was pitted against Luigi in a practice-battle. Luigi sent a few fireballs at Doc, who countered with a few pills. Then, Luigi tried a Green Missile, which was turned around by the Doc's cape. Luigi reversed and hit Ganondorf, who was still slumped against the wall.  
  
"OOOOOOOOOOOF!"  
  
Ganondorf rolled across the floor in pain. Luigi kept apologising, failing to realize that his Missile had caught Ganondorf's chest on fire. He rolled around to try and put it out...  
  
Meanwhile, Bowser was practice-battling with Pikachu. Pika tried an electric shock, but missed. He then tried a Skull Bash, but fell short, and landed at Bowser's feet. Bowser got that gleem in his eye, and started to fall forwards into the Body Press! Pika just rolled out of the way, but Ganondorf, who was still rolling around to put out the fire, rolled underneeth Bowser by mistake...  
  
POOOUUUUF.  
  
Ganondorf was a pancake. He slowly waddled to the First-Aid sector, while Fox quipped the comment, "I've heard you throw something on a fire to put it out, but something that big? Not too necesarry."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
After hours of strenuous training for Team Star Fox, and strenuous recovery for Ganondorf, they finally watched as the escape vessel disappeared into a cloaked ship. The air tensed. The ball was in Andross's court. He could either start a Ship VS. Ship duel, which would probably fail for him. He could try to deploy his Alliance members, but they were week. Or, he could just run away, and since he had a cloak, he'd probably get away with the money. The most likely option for him was #3, as he could just escape with the loot and not have to face the Cornerian Ministry of Defence... suddenly, Fox's mouth gaped open.  
  
"What is it, McCloud?"  
  
Fox stood there for about three seconds, turned, and pinned Ganondorf to the ground.  
  
"You TRAITOR! You lying, skinky, skanky, SKANK! Just how STUPID do you think we are?!?"  
  
"Fox!! What are you doing?!?" Peppy and Slippy had run up. The four of them were piloting the Great Fox at the time.  
  
"We need to blow up the ship, and get firearms for everyone. So, all of a sudden, there's just enough firearms for everyone in this guy's safe, PLUS a C-4 bomb just lying around in there? I can understand his Blueprints being kept there, but doesn't the rest seem a little... SUSPICIOUS to you two?"  
  
"Well... that's true, but he may have planned his escape beforehand. That's not enough proof."  
  
"The bomb we used had been broken off from something! From a BIGGER bomb, perhaps?! Is there something that you're... neglecting to TELL us, Ganondorf??"  
  
"Of COURSE not!...OW... (Fox was gripping Ganondorf's hair, and it looked like it was going to rip right off) I planned my escape before I left, he's right. I got that bomb from a double-basement floored side-chamber that was labelled, 'Beware the Leopard'. And yes, it DID look like it was part of a bigger bomb at one point but... OW... I was never TOLD about anything!! I never thought that up!"  
  
Fox got off Ganondorf, who got to his feet, shaking.   
  
"Well, this must be some of that Andross spice added to your own plan. He always WAS a step ahead... if that bomb is planted where I think it is, at the core of Dinosaur Planet, then when it blows, the Spellstones won't be able to contain the energy! They'll be destroyed, along with the planet itself! Well, we'll just need to get one step ahead of him in turn. We'll deploy a fleet of Arwings with choice individuals to get back to the planet, to... reinforce our plan of attack. The rest will keep watch on Andross's ship. With Slippy's new cloak de-activator, we'll be able to locate them on radar without their knowing. If they run, we'll have their position. Once the Arwings get back, we'll connect the ships with space tubing, and attack Andross head-on. Oh, and by the way, sorry, Ganondorf," Fox said, while pushing a button behind him.  
  
Ganondorf just grumbled, "No prob," while massaging his hair.  
  
"As for who's going, I'll have to, since I'm the one that knows what to do. I'll have Samus, Slippy, and Bowser come with me. Samus has flight and combat experience. Slippy has the mechanical knowledge I'll need, and Bowser can act as Slippy's bodyguard. Plus, they all know how to operate Arwings. (Bowser had learned during my first storyline.) Ganondorf, you're in charge while I'm gone, okay? Don't let Andross get away."  
  
"Sure thing, Fox."  
  
For Fox, this was a perfect oppertunity to test Ganondorf's loyalty. Ganondorf COULD let Andross escape, but Fox had attached a Tracking Device, also invented by Slippy, to Andross's ship when he pushed that button. Either way, he'd know where Andross was, and where Ganondorf's loyalties lay.  
  
Either way, Fox was heading out for the last leg of his long journey, to finally end Andross's plan. Since it was already the morning of day 6, with less than a day to go, he didn't have much time to dwadle... 


	4. Part Four: Narrative Data

PART FOUR - NARRATIVE DATA  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Star Fox ---  
Ganondorf really shocked me for a minute. I was completely sure he was a traitor, but whatever. His excuse was good enough for me. I decided to test his loyalty right then by putting him in charge of the Andross persuit, so, I would find out soon enough anyway. In the meantime, I had to re-inforce the Spellstones at Dinosaur Planet so they'd be able to contain more energy. For once, the device for this task wasn't designed by Slippy, but by myself. Its reactor would be able to hold much more energy, so if the bomb went off, it combined with the four Spellstones would probably be able to hold it. I only hoped we would be able to get back to Andross before the 7 day time limit, at which point he'd move to take over Lylat. So, Bowser, Slippy, and Samus came along with me to install the device.  
  
The trip wasn't easy. Andross had deployed some air defence to surround the planet. It took us 4 hours to get FROM Andross TO the planet, then and additional hour to actually get to the surface. Once there, though, I was thankful for asking Samus along. She was very used to situations like this, and within the next hour, we had made it to the Temple by her guidence, and installed the reactor. Slippy and I did the actual installing of the device, while being protected from Andross's assilants by Samus and Bowser. As for Bowser, well, I'll admit that I've never seen him more agile. He must have been working out for the last 8 years. Anyways, we finally got back up into the air to return to Andross. We felt confident that the device would hold up, if the bomb went off. Of course, we hoped that the bomb wouldn't go off at all, but now we had extra support, just in case.  
  
The trip back went smoother. We left at around 2:00, and I contacted Ganondorf to tell him we were finished as we left. It only took us three hours to actually get back to Andross's ship's location. But, when I got there, I was completely surprised by what I saw...  
  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Ganondorf ---  
Well, Fox must have really trusted me to put me in charge of the Andross persuit. He started to doubt me for a minute, then seemed alright with me again. I would never lie to him. Why would I do that, after all he's done for me? Before I escaped, I figured that Fox would have backup, so I stashed the Blueprints, some Upgraded Blasters, and a spare C-4 bomb (just in case). Everything worked out perfectly for us. Too perfectly, I guess, so Fox had to blame somebody for it going so well. That's just the kind of guy he is.  
  
In any event, here I was, on the Great Fox, and in charge of all its crew. After Fox left me, 5 hours had passed, making it 12:00. Well, at this point, I figured, why not lead an attack? We were still within range of the ship... but, I figured, I should wait for Fox to tell me he was done over there. Andross might just set the bomb off when we attack, and that might just blow Fox, Samus, et al straight to Zoness. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long. At 2:00, Fox contacted us to tell us he had a safe distance between him and the planet. So, I deployed one of our Stealth Space Tubes. Yet another of that frog's inventions. This one is just like a normal space tube, with a cloak. So, I had Mewtwo (the strongest of the group we had) to lead the group down the Tubing. Lucky us, we just happened to attach the Tube to a storage bay, so we had time to get everyone inside and plan our attack. Now, I knew of a set of Blueprints for THIS ship that were in the next storage bay over. We had to stealthily cut a hole in the wall big enough for us to get through, but it worked. I was able to retrieve the Blueprints from the voice-activated safe. Stupid monkey didn't even bother to change it. I was sure he still assumed me dead.  
  
With the Blueprints in hand, we were able to plan our attack. We would get to the lounge, where the Alliance team would undoubtedly be, and attack them with an Absor-Ball. This was a new prototype weapon, direct from S.S.B. Headquarters. It absorbed energy from Teammate's attacks, and then when thrown, would explode. The more the energy, the bigger the explosion. So, we were busy for another half-hour pumping energy into this ball. It DID have a maximum to it, though. In fact, Fox used the same principle this ball does to create his reactor that countered the bomb on Dinosaur Planet.  
  
Finally, we had Pichu (our smallest Team member) to roll the ball through the ventalation system and into the lounge. It wouldn't kill anyone, it was designed to accumulate %. I had Pichu stop just before the opening to the Lounge. Then, we could drop it to surprise them at our will. Pichu remained hidden. At this point, I glanced at my HUD, and noticed it was almost 5:00. It was time to reveal ourselves. I morphed into Ganon to break down the wall of the bay we were in, which opened up into the lounge itself.  
  
We were ready to show the monkey who was boss...  
  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Samus ---  
Boy, did Fox ever look surprised. His mouth just hung open. What we were seeing was our Team, lead by Ganon (NOT GanonDORF), standing opposite the Alliance inside of Andross's UNCLOAKED ship. We could see them through the large window of the ship's lounge. We were getting really confused. What was going on? We decided to pull into the Great Fox. Suddenly, we got a contact from Ganon:  
  
BUZZEEP! "Hey, guys! Pull into the hull of this ship! Please! You've got to trust me!"  
  
Well, not only were we completely taken by surprise at Ganon's accurate use of a communicator, but we wondered why we should possibly trust him. After all, look at what he was accused of before we left. The scene in the lounge may well be a setup! I told Fox so...  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox. This could very well be a trap."  
  
BUZZEEP! "That's what I'm thinking. But... I think we should trust him. We've got no evidence against him at all."  
  
BUZZEEP! "I really hope you know what you're doing, Fox!"  
  
Even after Fox's words, I was still uneasy as we pulled into the docking bay of Andross's ship. It was monsterous! It was also rather unnerving, since the ship was in the shape of Andross's head, and we were flying into the mouth. I couldn't even imagine the kind of Deja-Vu Fox was going through right then. Anyways, before the lock closed, Fox activated another of Slippy's inventions. This one de-activated the security cameras in the area by scrambling the signal. We waited for the lock to close completely, and we got out of our ships. Fox, Bowser, and Slippy had their blasters out and ready. I prepped my cannon on the FlameThrower setting. I thought I'd take my monkey well done.  
  
We got another contact from Ganondorf:  
  
BUZZEEP! "Right, guys. The elevator is right there. Eavelay Ippyslay!"  
  
"What the friggin' hell was that?!?" Bowser excalimed. "Was he talking in some wierd Hylian tounge or something??"  
  
"It's called Pig Latin," I explained. "Andross doesn't understand it. We're not sure why. Some distant monkey origin. He ment to say, "Leave Slippy".  
  
Slippy's brow furrowed. "Why can't I come?"  
  
"You can't fight, Slip," Fox said. "You're our mechanic. You can't come along on this one. I'm thinking, stay hidden down here. Don't let anybody see you. We can't afford that now. Why not hide in a cockpit of one of those Arwings?"  
  
"Aw... I guess so."  
  
So, Slippy ducked back into his Arwing, and crouched down low, so that he couldn't be seen by the security cameras. Finally, the device wore off, and the cameras re-activated. By then, Fox, Bowser, and I had gotten into the elevator. The cameras didn't detect anything inside the docking bay, since the Arwing's surface reflected the light from the cameras. Slippy went undetected... for now, at least.  
  
There was no camera within the elevator, so we just sat and waited. It took about a minute. We just sort of shuffled on our feet absent-mindedly, waiting. It seemed like an eternity in that thing, but finally, we got to the top. The doors slid open, to reveal the lounge...  
  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Captain Falcon ---  
Alright, let's get something straight here. I'm the new leader of this team, and whether they liked it or not, I was to guide them to victory, though thick and thin... HAhahaha! Whaddya think? I got that out of a book I read. Actually, the ONLY book I ever read. Okay, I only read one page... OKAY, I only read that one sentance. Title? No clue... WHATEVER! I led the Alliance then, so there I was, sitting in the lounge, making intelligent conversation (how to get that disgusting green stuff out of your teeth) when suddenly, Ganon barged though our wall. Pret-ty surprising. He caught ME completely off guard, at least. I was talking to Mario at the time...  
  
"So, you take the Metallically-reinforced garden hose, and... WAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"  
  
In fact, the wall Ganon barged through was the one that my chair was up against. So, I was flung to the opposite end of the room. Using my super-fast jumping powers, I did that thing where you backflip as you get up. Actually, I had to try four times before I got it right. Twice I landed on my head... AHEM! I eventually did get to my feet, and I cried out, heroically (like the leader I was),  
  
"SURRENDER NOW!"  
  
That got me a Shadow Ball in the stomach, and a lot of laughs. I shakily climbed to my feet again ("screw the backflip!"), and contacted Andross.  
  
BUZZEEP! "S-Sir, we have a problem down here..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "WHAT is it now!? I'm TRYING to wallow in my own GLORY, here!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well, Team Star Fox is standing opposite us, here, and we're trying to decide on what to do."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well then, get me a visual, you fool!!"  
  
So, I activated one of those cameras. It showed all the meanies that stood over there, in accurate detail.  
  
Suddenly, Andross's voice blared over the intercom. "INTRUDERS! This is the abomidable force of Andross speaking. I see you stand before me now, and yet, there are four of you missing. WHERE are they?! I refuse to regard your existance at all unless you get them to turn up."  
  
Ganon spoke up, in that low, scary, gravelly voice of his. "They're arriving in their Arwings. Look, here they come now!"  
  
Andross looked to space, and saw the four missing team members arriving. "Very good, pig. What about those three other friends of yours? The frog, and the rabbit, and the robot?  
  
"Still on our ship, ape."  
  
"Very well. Have your team members arrive through the docking bay. They'll be able to meet up with you up here, through the elevator."  
  
"HOW do we know you're not tricking us at all?"  
  
"Trust me, pig. I'd like to meet McCloud face-to-face, for once... I'd like to see him alive."  
  
Ganon sure did think for a minute, then communicated with them.   
  
BUZZEEP! "Hey, guys! Pull into the hull of this ship! Please! You've got to trust me!"  
  
For a minute, they discussed it out there, not sure of what to do. Finally, they pulled into the docking bay, and the mouth closed behind them. After a minute, Ganondorf sent another message:  
  
BUZZEEP! "Right, guys. The elevator is right there. Eavelay Ippyslay!"  
  
Andross was furious. "HEY! You KNOW I don't understand Pig Latin, DON'T you?!?! How DARE you insult my intelligence, hog!!! ALLIANCE! ATTACK! No, wait, don't attack. I've got a BETTER idea... let's make this an official match."  
  
"WHAT?!?" Ganondorf sounded surprised. "And just HOW do you plan to do that?"  
  
"With my new invention. It's called a "GameCube". Check the visual on the lounge screen."  
  
Sure enough, Andross's latest creation flashed on the screen. A small, purple box, with a control device connected to it by a wire. Andross could be seen flipping the controls around, and soon enough, he had access to the "Options" menu!  
  
"Now, listen carefully. With this device, I have FULL control of your match, as it happens. I can make weapons appear at will. I could start a time limit... or stop it. The only thing I can NOT control is the amount of stock, or damage. You'll all start with one stock and 0% damage, of course. Just a little 411. Right, now. ALLIANCE! ATTACK!"  
  
And, the battle began! Sadly, I was trampled beneeth the boots of my teammates...  
  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Peppy ---  
Wow, did we ever have a good bluff! When Fox, Samus, Bowser, and Slippy flew up, Andross thought Slippy was actually Pichu, which would total 12 team members. But, it was really Slippy, who was not really a team member at all! So, at that point, they had NO idea of Pichu's actual whereabouts! And as for Slippy? He was the wild card in that fight. He could have made a HUGE difference in the match. Me? I wasn't there, I have no clue! So, that's all the info this Narrative could possibly supply! Go read the next one.  
  
  
--- NARRATIVE DATA - Fox ---  
As the elevator door opened, we glanced out to see the Alliance team move to rush across the lounge. Now, this lounge was huge. I mean, HUGE huge. Football field huge. The elevator came up right in the middle. So, as we watched the Alliance start to run over Captain Falcon, we watched as Pichu dropped some sort of BOMB in front of them! It exploded on impact, damaging everyone near it! It appeared to be some sort of BIO-BOMB, because only living things were hurt by it. A nearby plant shrivelled and died. We were out of range, but it sure looked painful. We moved back to join Ganondorf.  
  
"Real smooth, pig face."  
  
"Oh... right. I'd better demorph..."  
  
Ganon did so, as not to waste his energy. Soon enough, he was Ganondorf again.  
  
Without warning, Andross's prickly voice surfaced over the hullabaloo of the Alliance's cries of pain: "THAT'S IT! This is oficially a STAMINA MATCH! 1000 HP damage to EACH FIGHTER! ALLIANCE! Get up and get them OFF MY SHIP!!! Oh. I'll also add weapons," he said, suddenly calmer.  
  
Bomb-ombs fell from nowhere. One actually fell OUTSIDE the ship, towards our Space Tube...  
  
BOOOOOOOM!!!  
  
Our Space Tube was destroyed! ROB must have turned off the cloak to recharge the battery, and Andross spotted it! Now, Peppy and ROB were stuck on the Great Fox, unable to physically come over and help. Nevertheless, he could still pilot the thing...  
  
The Alliance rushed at us. I glanced at the clock. 6:00. Six more hours, and Andross would set off the bomb. We'd have to de-activate it before that...  
  
  
--- RUDE INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Captain Falcon ---  
HEY!!! WHY exactly didn't I get to finish MY part of the story?!?  
  
  
--- COUNTER-INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Fox ---  
Look. You're making this 'Fic sound really, really wierd now. You had your part to shine. Why not BUTT OUT now??  
  
  
--- MORE RUDE INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Captain Falcon ---  
You DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!!!  
  
  
--- MORE COUNTER-INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Fox ---  
That's it. We're sending it to Part Five, so our good buddy Foxillusion will take an omniciant point of view, so we can actually get this story finished. You're really pestering the readers.  
  
  
--- EXTREMELY RUDE INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Captain Falcon ---  
But that's NOT FAIR!  
  
  
--- MORE WELCOME INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Fox ---  
That's it. This data is ending NOW!  
  
  
--- MORE EXTREMELY RUDE INTERRUPTIVE NARRATIVE DATA - Captain Falcon ---  
You just don't want to believe tha  
  
  
--- END NARRATIVE DATA --- 


	5. Part Five: Final Confrontation

PART FIVE - FINAL CONFRONTATION  
  
The Alliance rushed. Team Star Fox rushed. Remember, football-field lounge, filled with bomb-ombs. Took awhile for both teams to MAKE IT to each other. The Alliance was already pretty tired, from the Pichu-bombing, but Team Star Fox was at full strength, which would be pretty helpful in the match-up...  
  
Fox's first instinct was to rush at Falco. After all, that's what he's done for every OTHER fight in my 'fics! But, there WAS no Falco this time, so he went for Ness instead. Those two had never been friends. Okay, they hated each other. Fox had robbed Ness of his money to help fix the Great Fox back in my first storyline. Ness yanked out his Yo-yo and whalloped Fox with it a few times, causing an eventual 50HP damage. Fox retalliated with an illusion, followed up by some blaster shots. Ness's HP was reduced by 29. Ness charged Fox, and threw a Bomb-omb. Missed! Fox had jumped up to avoid it. As he came down, he did his Meteor Smash attack! Ness was pounded into the metal floor, with his feet sticking out the bottom, and the top half of his body out the top. Fox took advantage to pull out his blaster, firing continuously, causing a total of 71HP lost for Ness. At that point, Fox was dragged back by Marth and Roy. They threw him down and slashed him repetedly to cause 75HP of damage. Bowser came to Fox's aid, ripping Marth and Roy off Fox and chucking them across the room, causing them 50HP damage each.  
  
Meanwhile, Peach was facing her nemesis. Again. Zelda paced opposite Peach, looking furious. Eight years ago (yes, ANOTHER flashback), Zelda had beaten Peach and Samus out to become the Women's Champion. Now, Peach wanted some revenge. Actually, she wanted revenge on Samus more, but they were kind of on the same team. So, Peach picked up a lounge chair and hurled it at Zelda. Zelda reflected it back with Nayru's Love. Peach hit the chair back AGAIN, and set it on fire at the same time with a Peach Bomber. Zelda couldn't get Nayru's Love up in time, and was hit for 45HP! Peach took advantage of Zelda's misfortune to run forward and hit her with an Angry Veggie for 10 more HP. She then threw Zelda on the ground and jumped up and down on her, causing more and more damage! Zelda finally was able to roll out of the way, but not before Peach had done another 45HP of damage.  
  
"SEE?!?" Peach yelled at Zelda, whom was still struggling to her feet. "That Trophey should be MINE!"  
  
Zelda glared at Peach with fury, and morphed into Shiek!  
  
"Oh, I BEG to differ..."  
  
Shiek launched himself at Peach! Hitting about a dozen Needles as he went, he pulled out his Chain and whacked Peach with it a few times. Then, he did his Double Kick! Peach soared backwards and landed on another chair. This amounted to 25HP of damage.  
  
I should really explain this lounge. It was the length of a football field, with numerous entrances to other parts of the ship. There were numerous couches and chairs in it, along with some tables to eat or drink at. There were also a few planters scattered here and there. There was also a Jumbotron at one end of the room, where Andross was currently projected, playing around on this "GameCube" invention of his. Not exactly a welcoming environment at the time, though, due to the 24 fighters throwing bombs at each other.  
  
In fact, Mewtwo, Pichu, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff were creating an advancing Poké-wall of bombing. They had managed to take 300HP off C. Falcon, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi each! Those four Alliance members were completely tired out after the assult, and were taken out of the equation for awhile. As for the Pokémons, they split up to persue different targets. Mewtwo picked Jigglypuff up, as she started charging her Rollout attack, then he hurled her at the Ice Climbers! They took a whopping 400HP from the hit! The Ice Climbers were knocked in opposite directions, like a pair of bowling pins! Jigglypuff grinned, but was grabbed by Link's Hookshot, which he used to drag her in. He then cut her up with his sword, causing a total of 75HP of damage! Jiggly broke free, and Sang Link to sleep. Jiggly then used her Rest attack, and Link went flying backwards into a wall! A large dent appeared in the wall, and Link slumped to the ground. The Rest had caused 100HP of damage!  
  
Meanwhile, Fox was pummeling Ness with his Reflector. Playing ping-pong with the wall, he sent Ness flying back off the wall, then as Ness flew back, he reflected him off again! He continued this to rack up another 200HP of damage! Finally, Donkey Kong ran in to break things up. He chucked Fox back against another wall for 25HP of damage. As Fox lay on the ground, he picked up a Bomb and sent it walking towards D.K., who didn't notice it until it was too late...  
  
BOUUUM!  
  
That bomb, along with another two at D.K.'s feet, sent him flying back into the same dent Link had caused, finally breaking through it!!! This attack racked up another 150HP of damage! Donkey Kong was knocked out, for now at least. He was almost half-eliminated as it was!  
  
Meanwhile, Luigi took on Mario. Mario had helped him win a Team Trophey eight years back, but that was for Yoshi, and Mario had stolen it. Luigi was pretty angry with Mario, and as he sent some Fireballs at Mario, Mario countered with his own. Small explosions appeared between them where the attacks met. Finally, Luigi connected with one Fireball for 10HP! As Mario reeled, Luigi ran forward and hit his Fiery Green Missile! Mario flew backwards and broke through a coffee table! 65HP damage had racked up from that attack.  
  
Andross looked over the scene he had created. He scratched his head. Apparently, his bombs weren't working, since his team was still losing. Andross bleeped some buttons on his GameCube. Sunnenly, the Bombs all started exploding! Everyone ran around, trying to avoid the large scene of destruction. Everyone took 25HP of damage from the blasts. Andross decided, it was time for some more physical play. He toggled with the controller some more, and suddenly, about 50 Home-Run Bats dropped from nowhere! Fox was actually the one who opened this part of the fight, grabbing a bat and hitting a Home Run on C. Falcon for 100HP!! He then tossed the bat to Ganondorf, who was fighting Link. Ganondorf hit a Home Run on Link for 100HP as well! Ganondorf grinned his appriciation at Fox as they continued the fight.  
  
Meanwhile, Slippy was finishing his charging of the Camera-scrambling device. He finally finished doing so, and activated it. He had about 30 minutes. He knew exactly what to do. He ran over to the same pile of Absor-Balls that Ganondorf used, and pushed them in front of his Arwing. He spent the time firing Charge Shots, Duel Lasers, and Bombs at them to charge them up. (Since he was on Team Star Fox, they wouldn't hurt his own team, only team Alliance.) He then rolled the bombs into the elevator, after they were fully charged, and squeezed himself in as well. The elevator shuddered, and started its ascent...  
  
Meanwhile, Peach was battling Zelda. (Zelda had demorphed to save her energy.) Peach chucked a couple of Bats at Zelda, to cause 20HP of damage. Zelda tried to retalliate with Din's Fire, but Peach blocked it, and hit a Peach bomber! Zelda flew down a passage leading from the Lounge. Peach started to chuck Vegetables at Zelda, who was forced farther and farther back. Finally, Peach ran forward, grabbed Zelda by the hair, and smacked her forwards. Zelda flew through a pair of doors into another storage room. All this had done a total of 180 damage to Zelda. Finally, Zelda gave up being Zelda, and transformed into Shiek again. Shiek whipped out his Chain, and quickly wrapped it around Peach's throat! Peach choked as Shiek whipped her into a stack of transport crates. The crates were obliviated with the force of Shiek's throw. Shiek then took up a steel containment canister, and hurled that at Peach. Peach managed to get her shield up, but the barrel just shattered it. Peach few up, then crashed back down to the floor. Shiek demorphed to Zelda, then started throwing more of Din's Fire. Peach got burned again and again. All this attacking had amounted to 200HP of damage. Finally, as Zelda was still throwing fire, Samus charged in, and hit a Charge Shot on Zelda for 50HP! Samus then hit a Screw Attack! Zelda flew backwards into the corridor again, as another 25HP was deducted from her Stamina.  
  
Meanwhile, Bowser and Luigi were double-teaming Mario. Bowser was holding Mario by his throat, while using his Fire Breath to burn him. Luigi was sending a birrage of Green Fireballs to hit Mario. This was amounting to 300HP of damage, since it continued on for about three minutes! Nobody bothered comming to his aid. Mario was then chucked into a wall by Bowser, which added another 75HP of damage onto his total. Yoshi finally decided to come help Mario. Grabbing Luigi, and tossing him on his back, Yoshi ran up to Marth and Roy, and asked to be thrown. Marth and Roy hurled Yoshi back into a wall as hard as they could. Luigi got completely crushed for 100HP!! Bowser, upon noticing this, came to Luigi's aid, only to be literally EATEN by Yoshi! Yoshi got Bowser in his mouth, and chewed and chewed and chewed, finally Spitting Bowser out onto the floor as hard as he could! Bowser suffered 75HP of damage!  
  
Meanwhile, Slippy had reached the top. All his bombs were unloaded, and went rolling around. They exploded randomly, causing massive damage to the Alliance. Different accumulations of damage came to different members of the team, but the damage done was incredible!  
  
Ness got the worst of the blast, still being stuck in the floor, for a massive 200HP of damage! He slumped, unconcious, for the time, at least. Zelda was safe, since she was down a completely different corridor. The rest took damage ranging from 25-75HP. Andross, seeing the score, was totally shocked. The Alliance didn't lose THIS horribly last time! With his GameCube, they should be WINNING! But they weren't! Andross decided to try a different tactic... he removed all weapons and special abilities! Now, the battlers could only fight with their natural abilities! Andross didn't even realise his mistake: the four Pokemon could use their abilities, since they were BORN with those talents! Others, like Ness, Luigi, and Peach couldn't, since they DEVELOPED their abilities.  
  
However, Pikachu and Pichu DID understand Andross's mistake. Quickly, Pichu got on Pikachu's back, and they let out a series of massive electric shocks to anybody that stood nearby. Those unfortunate souls happened to be Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, and Roy. They each took 200HP of damage!! Pichu also took damage, 150HP to be exact, since he couldn't control his energy. But, it was a small sacrifice to deliver a massive blow to the Alliance!  
  
Meanwhile, Zelda was attacking Peach and Samus at the same time! Zelda ripped Samus's helmet off, and whallopped Peach with it! Peach went over, 50HP lost. Samus charged at Zelda, canon extended, ready to punch. Zelda ducked the canon, and whacked Samus on the back of her exposed head with her own helmet!! 50HP fell from Samus's stamina as she toppled over forwards! Peach, however, grabbed Zelda's legs and yanked. Zelda fell forward, and her head was shoved inside Samus's helmet (backwards!) as it hit the ground! Peach punched the backwards helmet, causing more and more damage to Zelda. Peach finished the combo with a High-Heel kick to Zelda's "face"! The helmet flew off, and Zelda flew backwards into another wall of the corridor! This totalled another 75HP of damage to Zelda! Suddenly... Link ran in!! He tripped Peach up, then slammed her into the ground with a Body Press! As 50HP was deducted, Peach growled in anger, and shoved her High Heels into Link's stomach! Link staggered backwards, and Peach did a high-jump kick to Link's face! Link fell backwards, as he lost 50HP. Zelda lept over him, and whacked Peach in the face! Peach flew into a stack of steel barrels. They toppled over right onto her! She lost 200HP by being crushed beneeth those barrels!  
  
Andross watched as Peach got creamed. "BAHAHAAAA! Now, THAT'S what I paid to see!"  
  
"That's pretty sick, Andross."  
  
"WHAT?? FROG?!?!?" He turned and saw Slippy in the doorway. "I thought I DISCONNECTED all passage between our ships!!!!!! NOT FAIR!!!!!"  
  
"When you're not deformed, your brain DOES tend to get smaller. Poor, poor monkey..."  
  
Slippy rolled his last Absor-Ball into the room...  
  
BOOOOUUUUM!!!  
  
Andross was flung across the room! He landed next to some large control panal, and was knocked out. Slippy ran to the GameCube device and quickly re-enactivated everyone's Special Abilities.  
  
Suddenly... KABLAMO!  
  
Marth and Roy! They had snuck in from behind and sturuck Ness down from behind! Ness slumped, unconcious, to the ground. Marth then took up the controller for the GameCube, and made more Bombs appear in the ship... right overtop of Team Star Fox memebers!  
  
BOUUUM!  
  
BOUUUM!  
  
BOUUUM!  
  
BOUUUM!  
  
Marth managed to hit EVERY MEMBER of Team Star Fox with one bomb, dropping them 100HP each!!! All of a sudden, Team Star Fox wasn't so much in the lead anymore... Marth chortled, and started to launch another assult...  
  
TSEWW! TSEWW!  
  
Both Marth AND Roy went down. Slippy had unholstered his blaster, and shot them both in the head for 100HP each! Slippy dragged himself back to the GameCube and dropped a whole bunch of Beam Swords! He figured that Team Star Fox would be able to put those to use...  
  
They did. They REALLY did. Star Fox had grabbed one Beam Sword, and one Home-Run Bat, and started swinging at any Alliance member that got anywhere close. He managed to hit Kirby and C. Falcon for Home Runs (100HP off each), and cut 50HP off Mr. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers with the sword. Finally, Donkey Kong managed to grab Fox's Beam Sword away, but Fox administered yet ANOTHER Home Run to D.K. for 100HP!!  
  
Meanwhile, Samus was fighting off Zelda. Zelda managed to grab a Home Run Bat and hit 3 consecuative Home Runs, with the third whacking Samus's exposed head!!! Link just stood back and watched in awe as Zelda took out her anger. (Samus had lost 300HP). Zelda followed up by chucking the bat at Samus, for an additional 10HP. Samus fell, limp, to the ground. Zelda ran up and hopped up and down on her with her high heels! Samus's armor took most of the damage, but she still dropped 30HP from the assult. Zelda then started walking away, but kicked Samus in the head for an additional 10HP!  
  
Meanwhile, Link had left Zelda, assuming she could take care of herself for the time, and started towards Ganondorf. Ganondorf growled at Link. Link got a smug expression on his face, and suddenly pulled out his Fierce Diety's Mask!! Link had morphed into Oni Link, with his double-helix sword!! Ganondorf realised he didn't have the strength to morph to Ganon, so he drew his dark blade and clashed with Oni Link. Ganondorf did do damage, don't get me wrong. He did 150HP from the entire fight. But, Oni Link was just doing more, matching Ganondorf's 150 for his own 350HP of damage! Finally, Oni Link used an Overhead Slash to bring Ganondorf down (doing another 50HP of damage in the process). Oni Link laughed heartily in his victory.  
  
Suddenly, Fox! Fox had rushed over to help Ganondorf out! Siezing Oni Link, he punched him in the face numerous times, and chucked him through another table in the room! Link didn't have enough energy to keep the morph up after taking that 75HP of damage. So, he morphed back. Fox glanced at the mask that lay beside Link's temporarily immobilised body. Fox then put it on, and morphed into ONI Fox!! Fox drew his Helix-Style Blaster and shot Link into the ground!!! He did 200HP of damage before being struck from behind by Kirby. Suddenly, Fox threw Kirby on the ground and did the same thing to him as he did to Link!!! Kirby recieved 150HP of damage!!  
  
Meanwhile, Slippy had recovered most of his strength. He looked at the status screen. Realising that their lead had dropped considerably, Slippy glanced around to see if there was a way he could help out. Checking the Lounge visual, he saw about three Allince members pick up Beam Swords, and get ready to use them. Slippy quickly disabled ALL weapons. The Beam Swords never found their targets! Slippy then tried to drop more useful weapons, but Andross had gotten up! He dragged Slippy away from the GameCube device and knocked him out with a controller! Slippy slumped back to the ground. Andross started to crawl back to the aforesaid control panal he was knocked into earlier...  
  
Meanwhile, Yoshi teamed with Mr. Game and Watch, and tried to get some offence going for the Alliance against Mewtwo and Bowser. Mewtwo tried some Shadow Ball attacks, which Mr. Game and Watch caught in his Bucket. Bowser tried some Fire Breath, but that was also caught in the Bucket. G&W then sloshed the black substance that had formed in the Bucket all over Mewtwo and Bowser, who were each damaged 150HP, and flung backwards across the room, not to mention being covered in the yucky, goupey substance. They slowly got to their feet, trying to shake off the goup. Bad move. They had taken their attenton off G&W and Yoshi. Yoshi took advantage and bowled them both over like bowling pins in his Egg Roll atack! They each took an additional 25HP of damage. Finally, Mewtwo got completely angry and launched a massive Shadow Ball at G&W. The poor black original was engulphed in Dark purple Flames as he soared backwards for 25HP damage. Bowser followed suit with the retaliation and rushed at Yoshi, only to be turned into an egg. Yoshi pumelled the egg with all his fury and totalled a massive 100HP while Bowser struggelled to free himself. Bowser finally broke free, then tried to grab Yoshi to chuck him across the room. He missed, and Yoshi pummelled Bowser with a hailstorm of Eggs! Bowser staggered backwards, and flipped over a couch, getting knocked out for 50HP. Yoshi then turned his attention to Mewtwo, who was being pummelled by G&W. They both hurled Eggs, Saussages, and each other at Mewtwo until he had taken 200 whole HP of damage! Then they just left him trembling on the floor from the beating.  
  
Meanwhile, Marth and Roy were waking up, unknownst to Slippy, whose eyes were still glued to the visual screen. They silently snuck up behind him, and shoved him into a Waste Disposal Unit (a trash can) head first! Slippy blacked out instantly. Marth and Roy then moved to get Andross back up.  
  
Meanwhile, Fox was trying to get to the Control Room of the ship, where Andross apparently was. He darted down the halls, with his natural foxlike speed. He finally skidded to a halt in front of the door that led to the Control Room. He listened at the door to hear...  
  
CLANG! Rattle... rattle... (This was the sound of Slippy's head being shoved in the WDU.)  
  
Fox used his blaster to disable the lock system, and burst into the room. The first thing he saw was Slippy, with his head in a WDU. He then saw Marth and Roy at the other end of the room, helping an Andross to his feet, whom had congealed blood on his forhead.  
  
"Rrrrg... this is the END, McCloud! You and your stupid gang have hung around long enough! With a press of THIS button," he said, gesturing to the control panal, "The Lylat System will be thrown completely off balence! You may have destroyed my device, but that will NOT stop me from ruining YOUR life!! Say goodbye, McCloud!!!"  
  
Fox shrugged at him. Andross wasn't aware of Fox's device that was installed on Dinosaur Planet.  
  
Anyway, Fox said lazily, "Oh, no. You've planted a bomb. You scoundrel."  
  
"MUAHAHA! The BEST part is, McCloud, you won't EVER be able to prove that I did all this!! I'm in the clear! Too smart for YOUR outfit, eh, McCloud?!"  
  
"Oh, yeah. You've really swindled me this time, monkey. Oh, hey. You might not want to step on that."  
  
BOUUUUM!  
  
Slippy had gotten his head out of the WDU, and lobbed a Motion-Sensor bomb at Andross's feet! Andross, Marth, and Roy were flung to the opposite wall. The button that activated the bomb remained unpressed. Marth and Roy had suffered another 100HP of damage each.  
  
Fox quickly glanced at the Status Screen. Much more HP had been lost from both teams as they had battled. Fox also noticed how dangerously close The Alliance had come to beating them in remaining HP! Fox decided that something had to be done, and quickly. He then glanced over at Andross, realising that he had to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't press that button. Well, of course he was prepared for it, but Fox didn't want to take any chances this time. He wasn't sure if his thrown-together design of his contraption would be enough to aid the Spellstones in controlling all that energy. So... to business. Fox picked up the GameCube device and engaged... Sudden Death mode. It was risky, yes. Bombs could fall anywhere, at anytime, and damage done to ANY fighter would sky-rocket. He had complete confidence in his team, however. They would buy him enough time to get Andross into custody. With the Original Blueprints of the S-C Device in hand, containing Andross's signiture across the back, he had all the evidence he needed to lock the wack-job up until doomsday.  
  
Fox continued to watch the screen. Bombs were rocketing everywhere, damaging many fighters on both teams. Star Fox watched as Link just couldn't take any more damage, and was finally eliminated. As his HP ran out to Zero, Fox watched in wonder as Link evaporated! Fox puzzled himself as to where Link may have gone. He glanced at the security screen for the docking bay, and Link materialised there... inside a steel cage!! Fox was horrified. If everyone that lost was caged, how long until they all eventually aroused and started killing each other again? Would he even be able to OPEN the cage to get his own team members OUT? The cage would undoubtedly be handy in turning in the Alliance members, but, with his own team in there, they would just pick each other apart. Fox had to assure that his team members didn't die.  
  
...Too much thinking, too much thinking! Fox tried to get his train of thought back on track. He finally came to the realization that the room he was in was safe. Like, when Bomb-ombs were dropped into the fight, none were dropped into this room. He had to find a way to get all his team members into the room before ANY of them were taken out. He quickly opened up the intercom.  
  
"ALL TEAM STAR FOX MEMBERS! UH, GET TO THE ONTROL-CAY OOM-RAY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE."  
  
As the Alliance members looked around in confusion (being the doofuses that they were), Team Star Fox charged up to the control room. However, the Alliance caught on quickly enough, and followed Team Star Fox up. Picture it: a group of fighters charging up a corridor, with the Alliance in persuit, with bombs falling left and right. And, yeah, everybody took damage, and some were eliminated. However, all Team Star Fox members were able to avoid Elimination, although some barely made it...  
  
Below is a listing of the current Status of the Teams.  
  
**************************************************  
TEAM STAR FOX  
Fox - 800 HP  
Luigi - 500 HP  
Bowser - 400 HP  
Peach - 150 HP  
Ganondorf - 300 HP  
Dr. Mario - 575 HP  
Young Link - 575 HP  
Mewtwo - 50 HP  
Pikachu - 500 HP  
Pichu - 625 HP  
Jigglypuff - 700 HP  
Samus - 300 HP  
TOTAL: 12  
ELIMINATED: 0  
TOTAL HP REMAINING: 6750  
  
TEAM FALCON ALLIANCE  
Captain Falcon - 200 HP  
Kirby - ELIMINATED  
Mario - 200 HP  
Link - ELIMINATED  
Ness - 325 HP  
Ice Climbers - 400 HP  
Game & Watch - 350 HP  
Marth - 500 HP  
Roy - 500 HP  
Yoshi - 200 HP  
Zelda/Shiek - 250 HP  
Donkey Kong - ELIMINATED  
TOTAL: 10  
ELIMINATED: 2  
TOTAL HP REMAINING: 5175  
  
**************************************************  
Those who were weak, like Mewtwo and Peach, were protected by a ring of other fighters, to shield them from the blasts. At long last, the party reached the Control room, where Fox impatiently waited with Slippy, who had seemed to mostly recover from the earlier conflicts. They all eventually piled into the room (it was a relatively small room, after all, but they managed), chucked Marth and Roy outside the room, and barracaded the door. The Alliance was dumbfounded. Trapped! Nowhere to go! They all started rocketing their highest-power attacks at the makeshift barricade that Team Star Fox had made. It wouldn't hold for long! Sooner or later, they'd break in, and one of them would most likely activate the bomb.  
  
Captain Falcon was hitting the barricade with Falcon Kicks and Punches when he got the contact.  
  
BUZZEEP! "...*cough* Captain Falcon... listen... I've... got... to... speak... you... now..."  
  
BUZZAAP! "Whaa? What are you talking about?  
  
BUZZEEP! "I'm in the... Control Room... Fox has subdued me, but you... you can still stop him from stopping us... get down to the Cargo Bay and open the airlock... an old friend of ours has something that you can use to get this nusince out of our way. Get there! Quickly!"  
  
BUZZOWP! "Yessir. On my way!!"  
  
Captain Falcon tripped over Ness as he ran, but he eventually got to the airlock without taking too much damage. He opened it.  
  
And grinned.  
  
**************************************************  
"FOX! This thing isn't going to hold much longer!"  
  
"Yeah, I noticed. That and the fact that our time limit is on the verge of expiring!!"  
  
"But, we've gotten this far. We're in Andross's CONTROL ROOM! We must be able to disarm the bomb from here!"  
  
"You're right. Start looking!"  
  
BOUM. BOUM.  
  
"FOX!! This Alliance is about to GET INTO THE ROOM!"  
  
"Yeah, I noticed! That and the fact that we can't find any way to shut this bomb off!"  
  
"There IS a panal labelled "Bomb Controls" over there. Should I check that out?"  
  
"You're right. Start looking!"  
  
BOUM. BOUM.  
  
"FOX!!! This is getting REALLY ANNOYING!"  
  
"Yeah, I noticed! The fact that we keep repeating the same form of talking to each other!"  
  
"I've disabled the bomb! Dinosaur Planet is saved!"  
  
"You're right. Start looking!"  
  
"..........what?"  
  
"Sorry. I was in the groove. Anyways, excellent job, folks! Let's blow this fairly stinky joint!"  
  
"Not so fast, Star Fox!"  
  
Andross had gotten up! He had his paw hovering over the Instant Detonation button!  
  
"THIS IS IT! You may not have noticed, but your time is UP! Your adventure ends HERE, McCloud!"  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
Andross pressed the button. He pulled up a visual, percepting an image of Dinosaur Planet.  
  
"Now, we shall witness the destruction of the enire Lylat WHAA???"  
  
The Planet remained untouched! What the heck was going on?! Oh, right. Fox's device. Hey, I may be omniciant, but I forget stuff sometimes.  
  
"Hey, shut up, Narrator! This is OUR story!"  
  
Oh, right. Sorry.  
  
"Why didn't the darn Planet blow up?!?... ah. A minor flaw," he said, realizing what Fox had done. "However, that device won't hold for long. Fox, you may or may not have noticed, but the pressure readings on that thing are going off the charts! This Planet'll be history in about... oh, let's say, about 3 hours!! HAAAH! It's curtains for you and your stupid system now!!!"  
  
"NO! Come on, Team! Let's get back to the Planet! We've got to give that device a little boost... stop looking at me like that! I'll explain as we go..."  
  
Slippy quickly disabled Sudden Death mode on the GameCube. Team Star Fox barged out of the Control Room (noticing how all the Alliance members had been eliminated and caged) and charged towards the docking bay.  
  
"Okay," Fox yelled as they ran, "Listen up! Me, Samus, Bowser, and Slippy'll pilot our four Arwings outta there. There should be a Space Tube there for you, so you can get back to the Great Fox! Tell Peppy to set a course for Dinosaur Planet! FAST!"  
  
The crew reached the docking bay, and Team Star Fox piled into the Great Fox. It immediately took off for Dinosaur Planet. Samus, Bowser, Slippy, and Fox hopped back into their Arwings and started to leave the ship.  
  
All too suddenly...  
  
SHOINK!  
  
Fox's Arwing was attached to some device! He couldn't move his Arwing in any direction! Who had attached that?!?  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox! We're landing back down to get your ship fixed!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "NO! You're leaving and going to Dinosaur Planet to save Lylat, that's what YOU'RE doing. I'm landing again. Apparently, someone had gotten out of the cage. Whoever threw that just now is going to pay some hell. After I take care of BUSINESS in here I'll join up with you so we can turn these guys in."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fine, Fox. ...be careful."  
  
Samus, Bowser, and Slippy rocketed out of the Docking Bay. Once the hatch had closed and the atmosphere was safe, Fox jumped out of his immobile Arwing. He glanced around to find his enemy. It didn't take him long to find it.  
  
It was the one. The one Captain Falcon had let in. The one whom had thrown the immobilising device at Fox's ship. It was in the shadows. But, eventually, it moved out, and Fox got a good look at its face.  
  
And Fox dropped his jaw in horror. 


	6. Part Six: Race Against Time

PART SIX: RACE AGAINST TIME  
  
It was General Scales.  
  
"FWAHAHAHA! Ah, Star Fox. Weren't expecting ME, were you??"  
  
"Wha... how the heck did YOU get up here?!?"  
  
"Well. Remember in chapter one, how I was bound and gagged? Well, that was shown to the Cornerian Ministry of Defence, to gain their trust. I'm here, alive and well, with part of the reward given to Andross and, to cap it all off, I've got YOU stuck in here with your ship disabled! The only way you'll be getting out of here on THAT," (he gestured at Fox's Arwing,) "is by using THIS!" General Scales took out a remote from one of his pockets. He held it up for Fox to see. Aparently, that shut down the immobilising device. Fox had to obtain that if he was going anywhere.  
  
Fox growled. "Give it here, Scales."  
  
"Make me."  
  
"Gladly."  
  
Fox charged! Drawing his staff (which he had recieved in Chapter one from Krystal, remember?) he shot a number of Fireballs from his Fire Blaster. Scales dodged them and swiped at Fox with his sword, along the ground. Fox hopped over it, and brought his staff down on top of Scale's head.  
  
"OW!"  
  
Scales staggared back, fazed considerably by the blow. Fox took this chance to power up an Super Quake! He lept up high and brought this down on top of General Scales, who was blasted back into the opposite wall. Scales started to get up, when he saw a Cloud of Frost flying at him. Before he knew it, he was in a block of Ice. Fox took this oppertunity to pound on Scales with his Staff, eventually shattering the Ice and sending Scales hurling backwards yet again. Scales lept up, aggrivated. He'd had enough of this furball.  
  
Scales charged Fox, and kicked him across the room into a stack of crates, which seemed to disintigrate into an array of splinters. Fox was hurt VERY badly, and was having trouble getting up. Not only that, but the Alliance was still stuck in the cage on the roof of that room. They cheered as Fox flew across the room. Fox glared at them, but then just charged at Scales again. Scales charged at Fox as well. Fox quickly activated his Rocket Boost and vaulted gracefully over General Scales. At which point Scales turned around, grabbed Fox by the neck, and chucked him across the room into a stack of steel drums. These drums fell on top of Fox, burying him. He took massive damage on top of the damage he had already accumulated! The Alliance cheered in their cage.  
  
Scales marched over to the pile of barrels, where Fox was still struggling out. He grabbed one of the drums and brought it down on top of Fox as hard as he could! Fox was out cold. The Alliance cheered in the cage.  
  
Scales picked him up and dragged him over to his Arwing. Tossing him inside, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the device. He disabled the field and the Arwing was once again mobile! Finally, he accellerated it towards a wall of the room, and jumped off. Fox was on a collision course! The Alliance cheered in the cage.  
  
Fox woke up, with a furious gleem in his eye. He de-accelerated, turned the Arwing around, and blasted the hell out of the Cage the Alliance was in. They definitely weren't cheering anymore. Terrified, scarified, and (in Zelda and Captain Falcon's case) girlified screams emmited from those in the cage. They all fell to the ground, KO'ed.  
  
Scales groweled. This was definitely NOT part of the plan.  
  
"Okay, now to go after Andross... HEY!" Fox was stopped short. He hadn't removed the immobilising device from his Ship, and Scales had re-activated it, stopping the Arwing once again. Fox was furious, and started to go after Scales, but Scales literally hopped up onto the Arwing and... completely pulvarised Fox again. Fox was KO'ed for a second time, and there was no irritating Alliance to bring him to conciousness again. Scales grinned. NOW this was going according to plan. He got to work...  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Fox awoke. He was still in his Arwing. He was OUTSIDE of Andross's ship. You remember how it was in the shape of Andross's face? Well, the eyes suddenly lit up.  
  
BUZZEEP! "HAAAHAHAHA! Look at this, Star Fox! We're still going to have that promised "Final Battle"! Only, it'll be between me, you, and a large ultra-ship that LOOKS like me, but really ISN'T! Isn't that IRONIC?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Actually, no, that's not. For two reasons. One, there's nothing at all ironic about what you just said. Two, you have the definition of "irony" wrong. It actually means..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Look, I didn't come for the English lesson! I came here to whup your arse! It's CURTAINS for you!!!"  
  
Andross launched a few missiles at Fox. Fox dodged them, but with difficulty. He realised that he'd have to find some way to take the ship out. Otherwise, he'd never get anywhere. Since Slippy wasn't here to give him an analysis, he decided to start shooting the ship all over, to try and find a weak spot.  
  
He couldn't shoot. Scales had disabled his laser canon, removed all bomb ammunition from his Arwing, and disrupted his BOOST power. He couldn't attack!  
  
Andross continued to launch missiles while he laughed insanely. I mean, wouldn't you? He was about to finally finish off Star Fox once and for all!  
  
Suddenly, something happened. Something that Andross, Scales, well, not even Fox expected. A trio of Arwings flew in and fired smart bombs at Andross's ship, doing sufficiant damage! Fox gazed in wonder, trying to figure out who had disobeyed his orders to go disable the bomb. It wasn't Bowser, or Ganondorf. It wasn't even Samus.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Hey, Fox... different time, different place... but you still need Falco's help. As usual. I guess I shouldn't be surprised... good to see you, buddy!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Yo Fox! Look who we found!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox! Looks like you need some help!"  
  
Fox was in disbelief. Slippy. Peppy. and Falco. They ALL came back to help him defeat Andross. It was just like old times.  
  
BUZZEEP! "All right... Team. Let's take it to 'em!"  
  
Slippy, Peppy, and Falco began to attack the exterior of Andross's ship. It just didn't seem to budge to their laser attacks. Finally, Fox contacted them again.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Guys! This doesn't appear to be working! We can't waste all our Bombs at once, so don't shoot them just yet, but your lasers aren't working either. My weapons were kinda disabled... HEY! I have an idea! Shoot your bombs at the mouth all at once! I'm going back in!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "No you're not. There's no way you're going back in that thing. You'll be taken apart!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Just blow up the mouth! Trust me!"  
  
The three reluctantly agreed, and blew the mouth, AKA Cargo Bay access to smitherines. Fox sailed back into the Cargo Bay.  
  
The first thing he saw was the Alliance, leaving on an escape pod, getting the heck out of the ship. Fox ignored them, and turned his attention to General Scales, who was looking at the opening in wonder. Scales then saw Fox flying at him, grinned, and pulled out the remote he used for disabling the Arwing... but, he dropped it by accident! He desperately picked it up and fumbled with it, trying to activate the device...  
  
Too late! Fox literally smashed INTO General Scales!!! Scales screamed in utter pain as he was thrown against the back wall. Of course, he was KO'ed immediately. Fox landed the Arwing. He then took off the immobilising device and chucked it aside. Fox then re-enactivated his laser weapons and boosts. As he was about to re-stock his Arwing with the bombs Scales had removed, it dawned on him that he didn't have to use his standard bombs. He could find some other kind of large weapon to use. He had remembered the Bio-Bombs Slippy had used, and that Slippy had told him about other large bombs that they were stored with. He went to locate these bombs. It took him awhile, and he could still hear Slippy, Peppy, and Falco hammering away at the exterior of the ship, which unnerved him a bit. But he did finally find his treasure. A beautiful cache of very large, very powerful MegaBombs. He loaded these up into his Arwing (c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y...) and finally took off to rejoin his friends in the air.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox! What took you?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Sorry, Falco, mon. I had work to do. It was murder!"  
  
Falco decided not to ponder the significance of this choice of words.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Ah, Star Fox! You've returned for more beatings, I see! Well, I shall hesitate no longer in testing out this ship's mega-weapon..."  
  
A spot on Andross's forehead (okay, a spot on the part of the ship that looked like Andross's forehead) started glowing bright red, until...  
  
BUZZEEP! "WATCH OUT, FOX!"  
  
Fox, heeding Falco's warning, soared out of the way of a monsterous Beam of Fire! It followed him around, cutting off his flying range, but he dodged it succesfully. Suddenly realising he had these bombs (and that Andross would most likely NOT cease fire) he pulled his Arwing around and let loose with ALL THREE AT ONCE, all of them aimed at the top of the ship. It didn't take long.  
  
BUZZEEP! "FLY!!!" Fox screamed into his communicator.  
  
The bombs found their target.  
  
BOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!  
  
The ship dissolved into a massive ball of fire! The bombs had connected perfectly with their intended target: the generator of the MegaWeapon. It backfired on Andross. There was no chance of either him OR General Scales having lived through that. Fox, Slippy, Peppy, and Falco Turboed towards the location of the Great Fox. They had precious little time before the device on Dinosaur Planet failed and carried out Andross's wish of destroying the entire Lylat System!  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The Star Fox Team flew on. They had almost reached the planet by this time, when Falco brought up the pressing, and rather uncomfortable question...  
  
BUZZEEP! "Yo, Fox... you realise that we might get there to find nothing but a pile of Space Debris, right? We may not notice it, but the Lylat System could be flying out of whack right now.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Yeah, I've thought that. We shouldn't be thinking negatively, though... gotta stay hopeful...  
  
BUZZEEP! "But, Fox," Slippy spoke up, "Let's say for argument's sake that Dinosaur Planet IS gone, and the System is currently thrown out of balence. What happens with us? Where would we go?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "I... I haven't a clue. We couldn't really go anywhere. Everything would just eventually be destroyed."  
  
BUZZEEP! "I wouldn't worry myself too much if I were you, Fox," Peppy said. "Look!"  
  
True to his word, Dinosaur Planet was still there. Chunks of it had once again broken off of the surface, indicating that the Power Level was indeed off the charts. The Great Fox was floating lazily beside it. Fox realised that his team was trying to channel some of the power from the planet to prevent an explosion.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Okay. You three can dock in the Great Fox. I'm landing on the surface. ROB, get me a course to the Force Point. We're SAVING this System!"  
  
The three obeyed silently. Fox swooped down to Dinosaur Planet, to check the situation.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Fox had arrived at the Force Point, watching as his team hooked up some chanelling cables. Ganondorf noticed Fox and ran up to him.  
  
"Fox! Did you defeat Andross? What happened???"  
  
"I'll tell you later... how are we doing down here?"  
  
"Erm... well... we're getting as much energy out as we can, but we're not sure how long this thing'll hold. We need something to blast this energy out with. We were thinking of using the Great Fox's main canons to shoot the energy out into open space. We have them hooked up, but we wanted to wait for your confirmation to..."  
  
"We can't just FIRE energy out into nowhere, Ganondorf! We could kill someone... no, we could kill an entire Planet! There's no way we're just blasting energy mindlessly into space..."  
  
"Of course we can! It's crazy, split-second decisions like this that SAVE LYLAT SYSTEMS, FOX!"  
  
"Hey, don't start up with me..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Fox! Slippy here! The Alliance is back again! They escaped from Andross's Ship somehow and they're attacking! And they're not alone, either...  
  
BUZZEEP! "What are you talking about, Slippy? Who's with them?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well, do you remember back when Andross made a "Secret Weapon" that was like some kind of insane Robot?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Um, yes, vaguely..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "And do you remember those monkeys in Space Suits that moved super-fast?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Ah! How could I forget?..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "And also that... ah, screw that... imagine a whole slew of our large enemies combined together into one massive Super-Weapon."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Okay... ouch! That's one ugly enemy!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well... my point is that... it's here. Right now. Approaching our ship. Andross must have been building it in secret, and he must have ordered it to finish off the Planet before we killed him."  
  
BUZZEEP! ".........." Fox stood stunned for a minute or two, then asked, "How long 'till they're in firing range?"  
  
BUZZEEP! "About Five Minutes, give or take."  
  
Fox turned to Ganondorf. "You said you have the Great Fox's Canons hooked up already?"  
  
"Yes, but I thought you said that it would be..."  
  
"What was that you said before, Ganondorf? Something about crazy, split-second decisions?"  
  
"Oh, lord..."  
  
BUZZEEP! "Slippy! Get the Great Fox's Canons into Hyper-Mode. We'll be fueling them with the energy from this planet. Let's take out that weapon, boys!"  
  
* TO BE CONCLUDED * 


	7. Part Seven: The Beginning of The End

PART SEVEN: THE BEGINNING OF THE END  
  
*Three minutes later*  
  
Fox stood before his Team. They had already connected power cables to route power from the core of the planet to the Great Fox's Canons. They were in Hyper-Mode. Everyone had collected on the Great Fox, waiting for orders. As for Fox, he spent awhile just... thinking. He considered having his entire team reunited before him, ready for battle, awaiting orders. His old arch nemesis, Falco, stood before him. Also awaiting orders. Many others that he should be hating, be beating their brains out at the mere sight of them, awaited orders. ORDERS.  
  
This was a war. They were his army. And they were all ready to fight... maybe even die for... the assurance of a safe future of the Lylatt System.  
  
"Alright, listen, team. Here's how it's going to go down. There's a Mega-Weapon out there, piloted by an unknown... something which is in a Command Ship that's not far behind the weapon. ALL of you except for Ganondorf, Samus, Slippy, Peppy, and Falco, you'll be on a Cloaked Dropship."  
  
"Fox, that thing can detect cloaked ships," Slippy piped up.  
  
Fox held up his hand... paw. "Let me finish. Slippy, Peppy and Falco will man Three cloaked Arwings. Now," he said slightly louder to overthrow Slippy's second protest, "Samus will be piloting the Great Fox. I trust you know how, Samus..."  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Excellent," Fox said with a sigh. "Ganondorf? You'll man the Great Fox's weapons. Including the HyperCanon. But we won't use that right off the bat. Downgrade the Canon's setting to Mega, not Hyper, then blast at the left-bottom section of the MegaWeapon. That'll knock out its cloaking detectors, allowing me and Team Star Fox to sneak onto the Control Ship and plant some bombs. While we're doing this, our cloaked Arwing pilots over here," he gestured to Slippy, Falco, and Peppy, "Will be providing the distraction; the most dangerous position. That weapon'll be firing at wherever you unload bombs at it from. You'll have to continuously move around to keep it confused. Stay Frosty, and aim for the edges of the MegaWeapon, and MAYBE you'll take a chunk out of it. But that's not your goal. Just keep it distracted long enough until we can get out of the Control Ship. Then we'll use the HyperCanon to destroy it after it turns on its auto-activated Artificial Intelligence."  
  
"WHAT?!?" Ganondorf cried. "It has AUTO-Activated ARTIFICIAL Intelligence?!?"  
  
"Of COURSE it does! You think Andross would let something that big and expensive just float helplessly if we simply destroyed the Command Ship? Fat chance. It'll just be stupider with AI. We'll be able to charge the HyperCanon enough while I join Slippy, Falco, and Peppy to keep up the distraction. With AI, it won't notice the charge happening. Then we simply blast it to Kingdom Come and hope that nobody dies in the process. All this before... (he checked the Planet's Power reading) our approximately 30:00 time limit expires. If we can't activate, charge, AND fire the HyperCanon before then, the Planet's energy will overcome both our ship and its Spellstones capacity, and it'll blow, vaporising everything near it. That includes them AND us. PLUS, the entire Lylat system will die. Questions?"  
  
"Nope. Nice plan. 'Cept it puts many of us in a position to DIE, doesn't it?"  
  
"And you're saying it's not worth the risk? Like I said, this is the future of all our lives we're talking about here. If we lose, everyone dies eventually anyways. That's how it goes, buddy. Now, move. This conversation has taken longer than the two minutes we had to plan. We've got to hussle."  
  
And hussle they did. Everyone set out to their apponted tasks. Fox? He prepared the Dropship. As he did, he parked an Arwing in the small Docking Bay. He also packed an extra bomb. Heck, he thought to himself... bring two.  
  
Anyway, after the preperation, Fox took the Dropship off from the Great Fox and cloaked it from the enemy's sensors. He glanced back at the Great Fox, which was preparing to use some of the Planet's power to take out the cloak detectors. Then he glanced at its target, and laid eyes on his overly large opponent for the first time.  
  
Ouch. It was terrifying. Like something sewn together from many pieces of many people's nightmares. A giant, mechanical, monsterous lump of death, best describes it. It didn't resemble anything logical, Fox couldn't relate it to an animal he'd seen before or anything. It was just, many terrifying machines, crudely strung into one large jagged-spere-like... THING. Fox shuddered. But even as he did, he saw the MegaCanon's beam connect squarely with the correct portion of the ship. Scanners showed that their detectors were now useless.  
  
"Let's move."  
  
It was strage. Gliding along beside a complete monstrosity that was firing blindly wherever shots came at it from. Different robotic parts reared up and fired differently-coloured beams, balls of energy, bombs, and blasts at different times. He knew he would have nightmares about just TRYING to control all that by yourself. There'd have to be at least 10 people operating weapons alone on that Command Ship, if not more. Now perhaps you get an idea of the monstrosity of this thing.  
  
After what seemed like a decade, Fox and his Team silently attached a SpaceTube link to the Command Ship, and snuck aboard. There, in a storage room, they gathered their supplies, as Fox unrolled a large floorplan.  
  
"Hey!" They were shocked. "Where'd you get this?"  
  
"Oh, I grabbed these from the Control Room back when we were in Andross's Ship. I guess I should've seen this whole "Secret Weapon" thing comming..."  
  
"How So?"  
  
Fox lifted the corner of the map. Written in big, bold letters was the phrase:  
  
PLANS FOR SECRET WEAPON  
  
Below that, the plans were listed. "Floorplan of Control Ship" was outlined on the side Fox had put facing up. The Team gathered around the map and Fox discussed their plan of action.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Samus was flying the cloaked Great Fox. Ganondorf hadn't had much to do since he had fired that first Mega Shot, then activated the Great Fox's shield system. He lazed around, waiting for his role in the plan to come into play. And having nothing to do made him bored, regardless of the Triple-Arwing stealth assult that was going on outside. So, he started babbling.  
  
"So, Samus."  
  
She groaned. "What now?"  
  
"Do you think you'll ever SEE Fox again?"  
  
"I will."  
  
"What makes you say that? One lucky shot from them and w... OOF!"  
  
A stray bolt from the Weapon glanced off the Great Fox's shields. It rumbled with the impact.  
  
"See? What if they just so happen to realise that Fox is on their Command Ship? They won't just sit there and take it, will they?"  
  
"No, they've got to have automatic security on that thing or something..."  
  
"Come on, Samus. You know as well as I do that automatic security will be the first thing Fox goes to deactivate on that ship. Then what? Will the Operators just abandon the Weapon and take out Fox and his ENTIRE TEAM themselves? Fat chance. They'll have to be reduced to the only SENSIBLE option of..."  
  
"DON'T even suggest that!"  
  
"Is it really so hard to believe? No way with a ship that small they'll be able to take Fox. They know he'll just destroy it anyways. Andross's army is NOT afraid of death, Samus. You know that too, as well as I do. They'll simply order the Weapon to destroy the Control Ship. Killing them all."  
  
Samus shuddered. Slightly. But, luckily, she had put her armor back on, and Ganondorf didn't see this. "He'll make it. They all will. I know it."  
  
"Hey, I'm just giving you a cold, harsh slap of reality in the face, all right? I'm Evil. It's what I do for a LIVING. Hey, Fox is a good guy, right? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with him. But it COULD HAPPEN. So don't get your hopes up too high. If he has to, Fox will rip that enire Ship apart himself... with him in it, if need be."  
  
She shuddered again. "Just let me do my job. Please? No more of this."  
  
Ganondorf just shrugged. "One lucky shot. That's ALL they need."  
  
Samus knew this, too. She had gone through all this in her own head, but couldn't bring herself to admit it to anyone else. The chances of Fox making it off the ship weren't in his favor. It was likely that he, and possibly his team, would perish for the System.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Fox finished his strategy. A team would go to, true to Ganondorf's guess, disable the Security in the Ship. Another three teams would plant the bombs in three different sections of the ship. Once done, they would meet back there, get the heck out, and blow that station to ribbons. After that, it would be a piece of cake to take the Weapon itself out. Only a living being could possibly recognise, and act upon, the weakness of the enemy ship as it charges an attack as massive as the HyperCanon. They'd destroy the weapon, and save the planet all at once. But, again, time was still against them. Although using SOME of the Planet's energy (to destroy the Clock Detector) bought them some time, they only had 20:00 minutes left now to activate the HyperCanon, charge it, AND fire it. Otherwise, the Planet would explode. Crunch time for the Team.  
  
Fox was all out of words by now, so to save breath, he simply pointed dramatically towards the door of the room. It was the most inspiring gesture many of them had ever seen. They slunk out of the room, all ready for action.  
  
Fox was the first to reach his destination. He was the one to disable the security. He crept into the Security Control room. Bingo! The guard on duty was (as nameless stereotypical security guards tend to be), asleep. Fox silently pressed a few buttons. Then, standing back, he took careful aim with his blaster.  
  
ZAP!  
  
Down went the Security Guard. Since the room's sensors had just been shut off by Fox, nobody was the wiser. Fox then pulled out his Staff, jumped up, and let loose with a massive Super Quake! The room's computers exploded in a shower of sparks. Well, okay, the walls were too thick to let the sound of the attack escape. But the shaking of the entire ship caused by the impact, along with the slight hint of the Security Cameras shutting off, would probably alert the rest of the ship to their presence. Time to get moving. Fox snuck back to the Storage Room to wait for his team.  
  
He didn't have long to wait. Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff were the first to return, having successfully planted their bomb. Dr. Mario, Young Link, and Mewtwo weren't far behind. But when the third team (of Luigi, Bowser, and Peach) didn't return for awhile, the rest started to worry. Finally, Peach and Luigi rushed in, covered in wounds. Not far behind was Bowser...  
  
BLAM!  
  
He bashed through the wall beside the door, having Shiek hanging on to his head for dear life, covering his eyes.  
  
And the Moral of THIS story is: Having Bowser as an ally may be excellent for combat, but sucks when you need him for a STEALTH mission.  
  
How had the Alliance got there? Simple, The Alliance against Star Fox had headed straight for THIS Control Ship after they fled from Andross. Star Fox and company had to GET OUT OF THERE before their bombs went off. The timer was set for 10:00 only. As soon as the third one was set, they were all armed. So, in about 8 minutes as of that moment, the ship would blow. With The Alliance there to beat up, it would be difficult.  
  
Fox and company charged the Alliance, before all of them could file in through the door and through the "entrance" Bowser had made. Fox? He headed straight for Captain Falcon. Why's this? He was sick and tired of reading those Samus/Captain Falcon romance Fan Fictions, that he wanted payback for such a stupid idea. Captain Falcon? He charged straight at Fox. Why? Fox just so happened to be the closest opponent to him. Falcon never really held many grudges in these 'Fics.  
  
WHAM!  
  
Fox blasted Falcon backwards with a Fire Fox. Falcon caught fire. As he flew backwards, he melted another hole in the wall. Fox lept through, and hit Falcon with numerous shots from his blaster before Falcon could rise to his feet. Without warning, Falcon let loose with a Raptor Boost. Fox flew UPwards, and created a hole in the ceiling. Falcon lept up through that, and started up a Falcon Punch.   
  
"FALCON..."  
  
At the last instant, Fox attempted to dodge it...  
  
"...PUNCH!"  
  
Fox just barely slipped past Falcon as he let loose with the attack. As he did, he snatched Falcon's collar, pounded him in the face a couple of times, and whipped him across the room. Falcon slid across the highly polished floor into an elevator. Fox quickly pressed the Cargo Bay level button. The doors slid closed on a groggy Falcon as the elevator started its decent. Fox then suddenly got a brilliant idea. He whipped out his comminicator and yelled into it:...  
  
"HEY! Listen to me! You guys, get the Alliance pushed back into the Cargo Bay! We'll be able to hold them there with the Airlock system!"  
  
As soon as he finished this, he stuffed the communicator back into his pocket, and lept down through the hole his flaming body had created. In fact, he noticed, too late, that it put him right in the middle of the other's melee. Attacks whirled around him left and right. He just barely flipped over Yoshi, who was Rolling around in a large Egg. As he was in the air, he engaged another Fire Fox, and blasted a hole through the floor.   
  
Perfect. He had dropped right down in front of the door that lead into the Cargo Bay. Quickly, he opened the doors and slipped inside. He glanced around. Silence met him. Then, without warning, a ding sounded somewhere nearby. A double-door opened to reveal an unconcious Captain Falcon, who tumbled out and fell on the metallic floor immediately. Fox dragged him out and placed him on the opposite end of the room, just near the large, sealed door that lead out into space. Fox flipped his communicator on and shouted into it;  
  
"Okay! Push them down this hole, guys! I'll take care of the rest!"  
  
Fox didn't have long to wait.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Mewtwo had slipped away from the Melee. Why? He's phychic, of course. He had realised what Ganondorf had perdicted: The operators (nameless, ugly goons that aren't even important enough for further description) were immediately rerouting one of the Weapon's rear cannons to shoot the Control Ship. One blast would be all it would take to set off their bombs and kill them all. Sure, the rest of the team would be able to take out the Mega-Weapon. But then they would all die. Something they kinda wanted to aviod, if possible.  
  
...If Possible.  
  
And since he KNEW what was going to happen, he had immediately teleported up to stop it from happening. He appeared at the back of the room. About fifty or so computers, in nice, neat rows, faced opposite him. Like a human's schoolroom, Mewtwo thought with a silent chuckle. How awkward. Well. Time to get this over with, prefferably before we're all dead.  
  
Mewtwo then pulled out his own Telekinetic Enhancement Device. (Where did he get this? Simple. When he won the SSB Rumble, he collected $250 000 in prize money. All of this he invested in the invention of a device which could enhance his own abilities to greater levels. He could control numerous subjects at once, with a greater level of ferocity. Basically it turned him into a killing ma-chine.  
  
He flipped the switch to "On".  
  
Mewtwo couldn't hold it in any longer. He flew forward, powered by his own telekinetic mind.  
  
"Evening, gentlemen."  
  
Each operater heard this voice in his head. Where was it comming from? Were they all dreaming? No, everybody else had heard it, according to their scared expressions. Then they finally realised that there was a creature hovering at the back of the room, eyes glowing a Dark Purple.  
  
They got up and ran. Pretty characteristic. Mewtwo didn't even have much to do. He just sealed the doors, hovered over to the main control terminal, and deactivated the firing process that was about to destroy the Control Ship. Saved.  
  
Unless...  
  
No, too much thinking. This device was giving him a headache. A downside. He'd get that fixed later. Switching it to "off" after not even having to USE it (awww... I was expecting a huge massicre too, I'm sorry...) he suddenly realised that it was time to go. He could see it in Fox's emotion. All right. He teleported onto their tiny transport ship and engaged liftoff.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
The battle was deafening. Every member of every team (Minus Mewtwo, Fox, and Captain Falcon) were duking it out all at once.  
  
The first highlight was Bowser, as he grabbed Marth in one hand, and Roy in another, and hurled them downwards through the hole. Fox quickly tossed them into the Cargo bay. (Kirby? He went back to being evil after winning his cash. Who knew?)  
  
Peach had tackled Zelda, whacking her with a Frying Pan numerous times until she was unconcious. Then she rolled her down through the hole, and Fox rolled her straight into the Cargo bay.  
  
Young Link was dueling with his older counterpart, amazingly pulling off a victory with a series of Spin-Slashes. He bombed Link down through the hole, and Link was then chucked into the Cargo bay by Fox.  
  
Luigi was in his element. He ran up to Mario (who was riding Yoshi) and bashed them both with his Green Missile, scoring a perfect hole-in-one into the hole! Fox reflected on this interestingly as he chucked the duo into the Cargo bay.  
  
Luigi wasn't finished there, though! He also ganged up on the Ice Climbers with Dr. Mario, and a series of Pills and Green Fireballs later, they were ready for holeing and Cargo baying.  
  
Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff were pounding serieses of Combo Attacks at Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Game & Watch. A Singing-Thunderbolt and Electric Rollout after, the trio had been forcingly stuffed down the hole and shoved into the Cargo bay.  
  
The rest of the Star Fox Team had lept down through the hole to join Fox. They looked at the room full of Alliance with relief. They also set eyes on Mewtwo, who was firing up the Transport Ship as they spoke. Freedom was a Space Tube away.  
  
Fox did a head... body count. "Hey! Somebody's missing! Where's Ness?"  
  
WHALLOP!  
  
Ness had snuck in with his Baseball Bat and given that cranium what-for! The rest of the Star Fox team forced Ness into the Cargo bay. Unbeknownst to them, Ness had grabbed Fox with his Psy-Powers and pulled him in with them. When they sealed the doors, they watched as Ness smirked at them as he used the last of his energy to PK Fire the door mechanism.  
  
"FOX!"  
  
WHAM.  
  
The door slammed shut, and they had no way to open it again.  
  
Mewtwo telepathically messaged them. "Yo! 30 Seconds to detination! What the heck are you doing standing around?! GET IN HERE!!"  
  
They ran. Oh, my, they ran. Quickly slipping though the Space Tube, all of them casting fleeting glances back at Fox.  
  
"20 Seconds!"  
  
Fox had gotten his communicator on. It sounded like a raging battle in there. "LISTEN! Guys! Quite obviously, these guys don't have a clue that we planted these bombs! They won't listen to a word I say! Just go! Sever the connection with this thing and get the heck out of here!"  
  
"FOX!" Mewtwo messaged desperately. "We'll always remember what you did! You're a HERO, Fox!" (As out of character this was for Mewtwo, he couldn't help but call this out to him. Fox might as well feel better in his last moments.)  
  
"Just GO! Get that Tube disconnected! And... tell Samus... I'm sorry..."  
  
The communicator buzzed out. Mewtwo knew that it had been hit with an oncomming attack. Brave Fox, he thought. Go out fighting. It's what he probably wants for himself.  
  
Mewtwo severed the connection.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*FLASHBACK*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
"Samus," Fox said, "I want you to have this."  
  
"What? You know I don't like sappy things like this, Fox..."  
  
"Oh, come on... just for me, won't you?"  
  
He held out his paw. It was his Badge.  
  
"Since I honestly have broken Cornerian Law many, many times on this mission... I really don't deserve this. I want you to have it. For stepping up and taking command of our ship when we are facing the single biggest threat this system has ever faced? Well, of course. What else?"  
  
What could she say? She embraced him, the light tears from her face seemingly melting into his warm fur. Thank goodness for you, Fox, she thought. I love you.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-END-*-*-*-FLASHBACK-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
It seemed like ages ago. Samus held the Badge in her hand as yet more tears ran down her face. Her job was done, after all. Their weapon was charging up, and soon it would fire. No more work required from anyone but Ganondorf. Every other team meber had their face pressed against the large window portal, waiting to see the resulting explosion the weapon would create. Samus didn't care anymore. None of this... the mission, the battles... mattered to her. Running to her door, she threw the badge out her portal with all her might. It was immediately transported out into space.  
  
As if guided by an invisible hand, the Badge soared back through the portal, into Samus's quarters, into her dresser drawer. Outside her room, Mewtwo lowered his hand.  
  
If I didn't know this was Mewtwo I'm talking about, I would've sworn there was a slight hint of a smile on his face. You'll be wanting that later, he thought to himself.  
  
But he didn't say it out loud. Or think it out loud, for that matter.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Back to Ganondorf. His hands were flying across the Console with perfect precision. For someone who couldn't even operate a communicator properly at the beginning of this Fiction, he had improved very greatly, thanks to Fox's promised training of Ganondorf. As anticipated, the Weapon was still distracted by the three Cloaked Arwings. The Star Fox Team must have been wondering where Fox was; he had said he would be joining them in battle. Nobody had brought themselves to tell the Team of Star Fox's fate.  
  
Ganondorf switched on the Ship's Communicator. Man, does that ever feel good, he thought.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Okay, guys! I'm about to fire! Get out of there, now, before you're deep-fried!"  
  
...No Response.  
  
Ganondorf pondered this. He did the communication perfectly. Exact right frequency... BUZZEEP and all. And yet it wasn't reaching them. What was going on? Geez, if only Fox were here, he'd know...  
  
Ganondorf's train of thought stopped short. He wasn't one to get all emotional like this. But hey; Fox was a great guy.  
  
He *WAS* a great guy.  
  
Ganondorf resumed his pacing. Back on topic. Why couldn't he reach them? Oh, of course... the answer was simple. The radiation from the A.I.'s generator... that was blocking the radio frequencies! Fox had told him about...  
  
Fox *HAD* told him about.  
  
OKAY! Ganondorf told himself. Stop thinking about Fox! And yet... no. Impossible. Ganondorf finally let his mind set on what it had been nagging him about ever since he heard the news.  
  
There was a way... yes, there WAS a way Fox could have survived. It seemed impossible, though. The idea was pure madness. But... nothing was too impossible for Fox. He'd learned that over his time with him.  
  
...So what if?  
  
What if Fox survived? Well, provided everyone got home safe and sound, his crimes would certainly be lifted... heck, he'd be a hero!  
  
And yet...  
  
No. Too much thinking.  
  
Thinking.  
  
THINKING!  
  
Ganondorf SHOULD HAVE been THINKING about how to get the REST of the Star Fox Team out of there! What was he THINKING?! He couldn't stop the firing sequence! Within the next 5:00 minutes, the HyperCanon would automatically fire... regardless of who was in the way or not. Ganondorf HAD to set it that way; and keep it set that way. Otherwise, the Planet would blow. Okay. Crunch time.  
  
How could he do it? Could he shoot out the A.I.? No... that was in the middle of the device. And besides, his Canons were charging with the precision of a surgeon. If the timing was even slightly altered, the System might be doomed. It wasn't worth it.  
  
Could he trigger an explosion? Toss up a flare? ...Send out a smoke signal? Get their attention somehow?  
  
Could he just get the hell out there and do something about it himself?  
  
Yes. Of COURSE he could!  
  
Okay, he told himself. I should probably tell the others what I'm thinking.  
  
No, that would be too complex. I'll just tell them what Fox would be thinking.  
  
What Fox WOULD be thinking.  
  
Shut up, brain, he told himself.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"You're WHAT?!"  
  
"I'm going out there! I'll go out in an Arwing and trigger this device! It'll block the A.I. signal and I'll be able to tell the rest of the Team to get the hell out of there!"  
  
"Ganondorf," Mewtwo tried desperately to reason with him, "You can't fly."  
  
"Oh, that's where you're mistaken! I can fly! Really! I've been... STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT, DANGNABBIT!"  
  
Young Link chuckled. "Naaaaaaaw. I've seen the file of your attempt. You absolutely sucked!!"  
  
"WHAT?! How... who... what...!?"  
  
Peach answered his stammering. "Apparently, there was a Dashboard-Cam on the Arwing Fox flew. They caught the whole thing on tape."  
  
"I... I..." Ganondorf's composure was all gone. "I'm not THAT bad anymore!!!"  
  
The rest of the Team just sighed. He'll never change, they thought.  
  
Suddenly, the team heard a loud screetching from outside. They rushed to the Window-Portal and looked out.  
  
There, believe it or not, was Krystal! She was riding her Cloudrunner Companion... in the middle of space...  
  
Ganondorf cried what everyone else was thinking. "...THE LAWS OF PHYSICS?!?!?!?!"  
  
Regardless of how impossible it was, she flew around the front of the Weapon a few times, and then turned and headed back towards the Great Fox. Ganondorf checked his readings. It was like a miricle.  
  
"The Arwings! They're... following her!"  
  
It was true. The three cloaked Arwings soared after Krystal. And yet... they could see her, and the Weapon couldn't? It was true... that entire time that open target flew around tauntingly in front of that massive Weapon, it hadn't fired a single shot at it. Actually, it had stopped firing alltogether. With the distraction gone, the Team anticipated it attacking the Great Fox. Soon, though, the HyperCanon would be prepared, and the Weapon would be toast. The Great Fox's shields would probably hold out until then.  
  
Probably.  
  
That was the big risk. If the Weapon, say, dished out a new, more powerful attack, the shields might fail.  
  
And then?  
  
Everybody would be dead within 24 Hours.  
  
Anyways. Back to Krystal. As soon as she had reached the Great Fox, she AND her Cloudrunner companion had vanished.  
  
"A Hologram...! She was just a Hologram!"  
  
So THAT'S why the Weapon didn't fire at Krystal... it couldn't see her, since it's Detector was lying in ruins! There was only one problem with that theory...  
  
She would have to be transmitting that image herself. As Krystal. And of course, the Cloudrunner. That would have to be done from a ship with a large, large range... which would have to be a large, large ship... and since no other ship (with the exception of the Weapon) was actually in range, it must have been transmitted from the Great Fox...  
  
This was, again, Ganondorf's thinking. Wow, he thought. Fox really taught be about this stuff well. He's a really good teacher.  
  
He WAS a really good teacher.  
  
Okay. NOW this was getting annoying. Stop thinking like that, he told himself.  
  
But even he couldn't lie about the tear he brushed out of his eye.  
  
Okay! Focus, Ganondorf, he said. Krystal must be...  
  
"Right here?"  
  
The Elevator door opened, and out stepped none other than Krystal herself, accompinied by her Cloudrunner companion.  
  
Ganondorf looked slyly at them. "I do believe we sweeped this ship for Stoaways before takeoff."  
  
Krystal laughed. "As if you've been keeping a close enough watch of your ship! With the recent events, your operator's minds were CLEARLY elsewhere. It was no hassle for me to get on this Ship.  
  
Ganondorf smiled lightly. "Well. It was certainly clever of you to use the Hologram-Transmitter. That never occured to me."  
  
"Well," Krystal smiled airily, "I certainly could make a comment about YOUR intelligence here, but I won't for YOUR sake... Mr...?"  
  
"Ganondorf," he said, shaking her hand. "Pleasure."  
  
"Oh, let me assure you," Krystal responded, drawing her hand back quickly, "The pleasure is all yours."  
  
Before Ganondorf could actually work out that he'd been insulted, Krystal continued. "I certainly haven't heard thanks for what I've done for your team yet, considering the fact that I've just saved the lives of three of your most valued pilots. By the way... three isn't four. I would very much like to know where Fox is, as I would like to congratulate him... face-to-face."  
  
Falco and company entered. "Yeah, Ganonpork, where IS Foxy ol' pal? I haven't actually chatted with the guy in a long time, and it'd be nice to catch up. Hey, why wasn't he out there with us? That lazy bum... he never has been into the whole business of distraction-work. He goes for the most important job. ...Typical.  
  
He WENT for the most important job, nagged Ganondorf's brain. He knew he had to tell them... but he didn't know HOW.  
  
Luckily, he was saved from having to explain anything, as the HyperCanon finished charging. The Weapon drew within firing range of the Great Fox, and attempted to attack... too late.  
  
The HyperCanon's auto-targeting system... well... found its target perfectly. Every living being in that ship (with the exception of Samus, remember?) ran to the Window-Portal to witness the resulting explosion.  
  
The HyperCanon fired. All that energy from the Planet was balled up into one, massive, giant... sphere of death, basically. This thing lurched towards the Weapon, slowly but surely. The Weapon tried in vain to destroy this ball. The energy from its lasers, however, only ADDED to this sphere's might. Finally, the sphere connected with the plating of the Weapon.  
  
It was quite a sight.  
  
(Usually, I would portray the sound made by it here, but it simply defies description.)  
  
The Weapon basically blew into billions of tiny little pieces. Every piece, now wreathed in a ball of flame, was flung away from the body of the ship. All the rest simply dissintigrated into thin... space. As chunks of flaming debris was hurled in every possible direction, many of the team imagined the large cleanup that would result from this explosion. Nevertheless, it would be worth it. A small price to pay for the lives of every living being in this entire System.  
  
Finally... after about fifteen minutes, the rumbling from the explosion died down. Small glowing pieces of Weapon slowly floated around, creating a new set of orange stars, up against all those other bright white ones that already dotted space. The entire Team immediately started babbling in excitement, amazement, and relief.  
  
After all this, Falco finally continued his question. "What a rush.... so! Ganonpork. You never answered my question. Where's Fox? He's really the one who made all this happen... he's the Hero, all right!  
  
Ganondorf looked pained as he looked around at the Team. Some faces looked near tears... heck, some were IN tears... some looked distressed, saddened... Falco looked a bit confused. Krystal and her Cloudrunner just looked completely miffed. Finally, Ganondorf found a voice, and took a breath to speak...  
  
Mewtwo raised his hand to silence Ganondorf before he even spoke.  
  
Mewtwo smiled.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*FLASHBACK*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
Fox had gotten his communicator on. It sounded like a raging battle in there. "LISTEN! Guys! Quite obviously, these guys don't have a clue that we planted these bombs! They won't listen to a word I say! Just go! Sever the connection with this thing and get the heck out of here!"  
  
"FOX!" Mewtwo messaged desperately. "We'll always remember what you did! You're a HERO, Fox!" (As out of character this was for Mewtwo, he couldn't help but call this out to him. Fox might as well feel better in his last moments.)  
  
"Just GO! Get that Tube disconnected! And... tell Samus... I'm sorry..."  
  
The communicator buzzed out. Mewtwo knew that it had been hit with an oncomming attack. Brave Fox, he thought. Go out fighting. It's what he probably wants for himself.  
  
Mewtwo severed the connection.  
  
...And as he did, Mewtwo, using the vast powers his TED gave him, commanded the Arwing he sensed in the docking bay to fly towards the Cargo bay of the Command Ship. He also took control of the two bombs that were stored there. This would have to be timed with mechanical percision. Alone, it would be impossible for Mewtwo. But remember, he basically WAS mecanical, with TED by his side.  
  
The two bombs flew towards opposite ends of the Command Ship's Cargo bay. One, slightly ahead of the other. Directly behind that ahead-bomb was the Arwing. Once again, timing was critical.  
  
The first bomb struck the side of the Cargo bay, blowing a hole in it. Trilliseconds later, just so it wouldn't be damaged by the blast, the Arwing soared into the Cargo bay.  
  
Mewtwo spoke to Fox. So nobody else in the Universe could hear him. He said one word...  
  
"Jump."  
  
And jump Fox did. It was a quite impressive jump, too. A large, exaggerated backflip that carried him to, nearly, the roof of the room. The Arwing soared into the room as the suction of Space hurled all the other occupants out of the room... Fox included. Mewtwo saw that comming, and placed the Arwing right above the opening as Fox came down.  
  
Mewtwo focused with all his might, trying desperately to ignore the severe pain in his head as he continued his plan. The top of the Arwing open, and Fox landed directly in the seat of it.  
  
Milliseconds after that, the Arwing's cockpit snapped shut, protecting Fox from the icy cold of Space. Milliseconds after THAT, the second bomb hit its target, blowing a hole in the opposite wall. The hard part for Mewtwo was over. The hard part for Fox was just beginning.  
  
Mewtwo activated the Arwing's Turbo Boost.  
  
Mewtwo spoke again, to Fox, and only to Fox: "Fly."  
  
And fly Fox did. Out the opposite wall, at maximum Fox flying speed. JUST as Fox exited the Cargo bay, the ship exploded. The Arwing tumbled though space, away from the Weapon, away from the battle.  
  
But it was intact, and operational.  
  
Fox was alive.  
  
Mewtwo was in terrible pain. It was plain to see. Anyone else on the ship would think that it was because Mewtwo's leader had just perished, and he was grieving. But Mewtwo had done the unthinkable. Not only had he created an escape route for Fox and given him safe transportation (effectively saving his life), he had done all that in UNDER THREE SECONDS. It would seem impossible to anyone but those who witnessed either the event itself, or the survivor of it: Fox McCloud.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-END-*-*-*-FLASHBACK-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
And to a large number of people, the impossible would seem completely possible very, very soon.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	8. Part Eight: Falco's Tale

PART EIGHT: FALCO'S TALE  
  
As Star Fox flew through space in his damaged Arwing, he reflected for a second on what the heck had just happened. He had actually wondered for a brief moment if he had just arrived at the Giant Lylat System in the sky. Well... he had, but not in a dead sort of way. Only in a semi-unconcious way.  
  
He groggily made for the Arwing's controls, and righted the ship. It had stopped facing the Command Ship... except there WAS no Command Ship.  
  
Of course! He thought. We blew that up just now. Mission Accomplished.  
  
No, wait... Objective Complete. The MISSION at hand was to destroy that massive Weapon in the distance. Even from the incredible distance Fox was from the thing, it still blocked out Star Fox's view of Dinosaur Planet. That's how massive it was.  
  
All too suddenly, an even more massive ball of energy appeared from the Great Fox, and was flung towards the Weapon! NOW Star Fox was awake, glancing at the thing in wonder. It was likely that this ball was the most powerful attack that had ever been launched in the history of the Universe.  
  
Finally, the thing found its target.  
  
Now, the Arwing Star Fox was in may have been quite far from the thing, but unlike the Great Fox, his ship was unshielded, and much smaller, too. Therefore, as the Great Fox stood right up to the wave of energy created by the blast, Fox's ship was flung backwards yet again. This time he was flying on a course that took him in the general direction of Corneria. Fox finally righted his ship after an additional 5 minutes of tumbling and flew towards home, at long last.  
  
NOW, it was Mission Accomplished.  
  
What Fox had forgotten was, he was still labelled a criminal, and although the Great Fox had proof that... well... prooved otherwise, it was not with him. So, blind to the fact that he'd be thrown directly into the slammer when he landed that Arwing, Fox flew for home.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
It had been awhile since the Weapon exploded. Now, not only did the Universe exist without evil, but Fox had been confirmed alive, and Falco himself had returned, and apparently had stopped being evil! So, obviously, with the emotional rollercoaster officially over, and the catastrophe averted, the entire Team had nothing to do but return to Corneria (undoubtedly where Fox was headed). However, the Great Fox was much slower than an Arwing. So, instead of arriving within 3 hours of the victory, like Star Fox would, they would arrive within 3 DAYS of their victory. So, of course, they were all anticipating hearing Falco's end of the story. He'd never really explained himself at ANY point in these fictions, after all... where had he gone after being thrown out into Space and seemingly killed by Star Fox? How had he returned? And, after he had lost at Intensity, where had he jogged off to as Andross cooked up this master scheme for the last eight years?  
  
"Well, mister big Narrator, I'd be able to TELL this to the readers if you'd shut your trap for a few seconds!!"  
  
OKAY... Sor-RY... touchy, aren't we...  
  
"Can it..."  
  
*Grumble...* Fine.  
  
"Okay, you guys," Falco began. He was sitting in a big, poufy armchair in the Great Fox's Lounge. The rest of the Team (minus ROB, since he was piloting the ship at the time. But hey, I doubt he cares all that much) was gathered around Falco's chair in a semicircle, seated in various chairs, beanbags, and cushions, ready for storytime (so to speak).  
  
Falco continued, "Thanks to a good deal cut from the writer of these Fictions, I'll get almost an entire chapter to tell MY side of the story. I hope it'll answer ALL of YOUR questions... along with one of the most pertinant ones... Just HOW Did Andross Revive Himself? ...So, I won't waste time with any more intros, I'll get right into it."  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-FALCO'S-*-*-*-*-TALE-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
"Well, where to begin... oh, the beginning. Of course. Well, Star Fox had just successfully blown me up... the first occasion of many, actually. But anyways. I soared upwards from where the Great Fox's Canons had almost torn apart my Arwing. I was getting close to exiting Corneria's Atmosphere... so to speak, I would die of the cold, or lack of oxygen... in any case, I had to try to crudely get my Arwing repaired, so I could at least try to steer it towards a suitable planet. Using my gun as a crude wielding torch-thingie, I sealed up any cracks in the structure of the ship. Finally, I exited Cornerian airspace. I was free-floating in space, barely clinging to life. I knew I would have to land somewhere soon... If pressure didn't finally rip my ship apart, I'd run out of air in the small space I'd gotten for myself in there... the supply had been blown off while I was still in battle on Corneria.  
  
"It wasn't easy. I knew the quickest route to another planet's surface was on the other side of Meteo, the large Asteroid field just outside of Cornerian Space. My alternative was to go through Sector Y, which is now abandoned, as you know... and by doing that, I would have run out of air. Even then, I would've had to land on Aquas to stand a chance of living, and even then the chances of my drowning there would've been even higher. So, I risked Meteo. THAT was the hard part. I had to dodge between a number of huge Space-Rocks, some of them that were five times the size of my ship! There were a few tense moments when I was struck by one or two of 'em, but I somehow pulled through.  
  
"The first planet I came to was Fortuna, as I would soon find out. My biggest fear here was taking this little craft into re-entry... I didn't think I would make it. However, I was able to make a crash-landing into one of the planet's few bodies of water. I was safe for the moment.  
  
"The Arwing was, of course, ruined completely. However, I knew I couldn't stay on that planet for long. Fortuna is much closer to Solar than Corneria is, and I'm really not used to those temperatures. So, I trekked until I came across the Cornerian army base on Fortuna. Memories of back in the day... when the Star Fox team fought Star Wolf on these grounds... Fox disarmed a bomb inside that building that would have destroyed this entire area. Ah. Back in the day. But, it came to me that I hated Star Fox with a passion. So, I quickly snuck onto the premesis and... Stole a Cornerian Space Vessel. It..." He stopped, shamefaced at admitting his crime. A few gasps were heard from around the room; other than that, there was silence. Nobody seemed to really care about this detail, so Falco continued. "It was equipped with a Basic Laser Weapon, and shields... not to mention it was fully fueled. I figured I'd be able to make my way back to Corneria.  
  
"But... I didn't, for some reason. I really didn't want to go back... at least, not just yet. I had a compelling desire to find a way to destroy Star Fox... and if creating an Alliance of talented fighters against him didn't work... I'd need something more powerful. So I thought to myself... what could I ADD to my team's might to make us... undefeatable?  
  
"And then... the answer hit me. Hey, I didn't care that it was completely evil. I just wanted that animal dead. And so, I set my own little course... for Venom. I was going to look for Andross.  
  
"Okay... so Fox killed Andross, in the name of his Father, blah, blah, blah... but you have to understand, Andross WAS a genius. There's no way he'd risk his life for ANYTHING. He would have a backup plan, possibly even to bring him back to life, or something to that effect. I know it sounds rediculous to you, but hey... NOTHING is too rediculous for him. He WAS evil, but he was also, as I mentioned before, a genius... a deadly combonation. Hopefully, in my opinion back then at least... deadly enough for even Star Fox.  
  
"So, it took a couple of days to fly all the way out there. I could've taken a warp, but I really didn't want to risk getting caught... if I was spotted flying that ship, I would be labelled a criminal. Anyways, that ship WAS pretty slow, and pretty weak... I didn't want to risk melting it. So, to avoid the heat of Solar, I took a path through Sector X and over Titania. I passed by Bolse as well... more memories of combat with Star Wolf and destroying that Satellite came back to me, but I shrugged those off, and flew on. Finally, I reached Venom. And let me tell you, it never looked more poisonous then right at that moment.  
  
"It took a lot of searching, but I finally found a small group of Cornarian Rebels wandering back near Andross's Temple. After inquiring with them, and assuring them that I indeed WAS a thief that took the ship I was flying (the ID didn't match with my wing-print), they told me about a secret project being developed on MacBeth. After the Star Fox team had run a Train into Andross's old Supply Base, the remaining Cornerian Rebels built a new base for Andross on that planet, devoted to the study of reanimation and revitalisation. At the time, the concept of reanimation gave me the shivers... but I couldn't stop a BIGGER shiver... more memories from running that Train into the Supply Base came flooding back into my head. Fox actually saved me from a bogey that was on my tail back then... anyways. I thought to myself that I should've stopped travelling the System right then to avoid more memories flooding back. Too much more of that, and I would stop hating Fox... something I dreaded. Anyways, I set out for MacBeth immediately, seeking to find this Base the Rebels spoke of.  
  
"After landing there, and gaining the trust of the Rebels that worked there, I settled into MacBeth a bit and learned of their studies. Apparently, they had gotten hold of the remains of Andross's body... somehow. I'm not sure how Andross's body still EXISTED after the explosion he went through. But then I learned of Andross's biological control thingy... I can't really explain how it worked, I didn't get it. But apparently the REAL Andross wasn't actually ON Venom. Ever. The large Biologic mutated form of him was controlled by the REAL Andross, right there on a remote location on MacBeth. After his brain-thingy was killed, HE was killed, but leaving his body behind. Now all they had to do was relocate his soul... yeah, I know," Falco said, looking at their questioning expressions, "I was a bit sceptical myself. But apparently, his soul was seperated from his body, and it had landed on Aquas somewhere, in a containment device. Hidden, frantic searches for this Soul by the Rebels were being conducted... for, if Andross's Soul was recovered, then it could be mechanically reinserted into Andross's body, effectively bringing him back to life. He wouldn't be the same ever again, but at least he'd be ALIVE. That was the Rebel's main concern, after all, for without a leader, they were barely organised.  
  
"Anyways. The Rebels persuaded me to join in the next search of Aquas's seabed. I don't even know how; I hate going underwater when I don't have to. However, I was spared from ever having to worry about that at all... another ship stunned my Cornerian Vessel while I was travelling, and captured me. I was unconcious for most of the time after that, but when I woke up, I was being held captive. I was afraid that the Cornerian Patrol had me; in that case, I'd be a criminal to them for theft of one of their ships. However, I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore... that ship was taken apart by my captors, and released into Space. It was found a month or so later; they never found out it was me that did it.  
  
"Anyways. Back to my captors. I was held in a containment cell for quite awhile, then finally, a creature came and opened the door to the cell. I didn't get a very good view at first, since the light came from behind him, and all I saw was a shadow. But then, it entered the room, and I got a good look at him.  
  
"It was a Gecko. Hey, not just any Gecko either... this was Gex, the legendary T.V. hero who had defeated the evil "Rez" on countless occasions. He didn't speak much, but he did say this: he warned me that fighting Star Fox would get me nowhere. He said I should just call it quits now, as not much I was doing right then mattered. It still isn't, really. But... I'll get back to that.  
  
"Anyways. Gex told me, Sure, go on back and fight Star Fox at the next Cornerian event. Sure, take him on again. If I won, he said he'd leave me alone. However, if I lost, he told me that I would have to return to him. He said, in return for this deal, he would give me an X-Wing for transport and even combat purposes. So, of course, I accepted.  
  
"You all know what happened. Fox whupped me again and again at the Tournament, finally beating me out for the Championship. Completely at a loss, I used the last of my money to purchase an Arwing from Corneria, and I flew out to Gex. I had nothing more to lose.  
  
"It took me a long time, but I finally found him. And when I did... he told me, that I wasn't really looking for HIM... I was looking for an answer... anyways. He told me a lot of things. And finally, I came to understand. Through his teachings and aid, I learned about the Universe around us, and about all its secrets. Finally, destroying Star Fox was not all that high on my list of priorities. Belive it or not as you will, my new goal was, and still is, to help Free Fox... just as I have been freed."  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
"And that's all there is to know. Thanks for your time... you've been great."  
  
The Lounge broke into applause from many members of the Team. Some, however, looked around in confusion of Falco's strange ending to his Tale. Freed? Answer? What could all that possibly mean? And what exactly did Falco LEARN? Has he, perhaps, been enlightened? No... that was TOO far-fetched.  
  
Some, however, knew EXACTLY what Falco was talking about.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
True to my own guess, as soon as Star Fox landed his Arwing on Corneria's surface... instead of the hero's welcome he had probably expected, he was jailed immediately. The Great Fox was still plodding along towards Corneria, but it would be awhile before any evidence of what just happened got back to the planet. During that time, Fox would have to spend his time, in a dingy Containment Cell, alone... well, not ENTIRELY alone.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	9. Part Nine: Breakout!

PART NINE: BREAKOUT!  
  
Fox sat in his Containment Cell, as I mentioned before. He had already worked out what had happened to him. Quite frankly, he was extremely pissed off at himself for not going back to the Great Fox to get backup. Nobody would believe his story without video evidence... and every piece of evidnece that he had... the layout of the Command Ship (had been returned to the Great Fox for such a purpose), the video evidence itself of Andross's various crimes (also stored on the Great Fox), and even Ganondorf to testify as a witness to all Andross's acts (was currently ON the Great Fox), were, well... all on the Great Fox! He was beating himself up now for such stupidity. Now he'd be fed minimal meals, given little medical attention, and above all, he wouldn't get to see any of his friends again for days. Shoot.  
  
The guard who was patrolling that sector approached Fox. "Package for you. Just sign here."  
  
Who would send him a package in prison? Fox was confused as he autographed the form.  
  
"Have a nice day," the guard smirked.  
  
Fox gave the guard a withering look as he sat down on his little, prison-style bed and tore open the package. He emptied out its contents into his hand... a phone.  
  
It immediately rang.  
  
Fox was startled. What a coincidence. Or... was it a coincidence? Fox didn't care right then. It would be nice to talk to somebody that wasn't so grungy. This guard was hardly company.  
  
"......Hello?"  
  
"Hello, Fox. Do you know who this is?"  
  
Fox didn't even need to recognize the voice to answer that question. "Gex!"  
  
"Yes, it's me. Look, they got to you first, but they've underestimated how important you are. If they knew what I know... you'd probably be dead."  
  
"...What are you talking about?"  
  
"YOU ARE THE ONE, Fox! You think they're holding you captive for Andross's claims? No, they're not. They're using that idea to lure you into captivity. In reality, they're suspicious. Now listen. I don't know if you're ready to see what I'm about to show you, but unfortunately, you and I have run out of time."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Stand up and see for yourself."  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yes. Do it slowly. Outside your cell."  
  
Fox obediently stood up... slowly. He looked out the window. There... was a BOMB!  
  
"See? I told you that you and I had run out of..."  
  
Fox lept away from the window just in time.  
  
BOOM!  
  
The side of the Containment Cell exploded into a billion tiny pieces! As the Prison's alarms sounded, Fox strained his eyes to see what had caused such a ruckus...  
  
Gex! Gex was standing there the whole time! Fox immediately ran up to Gex. Gex was clothed in all black, sweeping garments, and was wearing a pair of stylish shades.  
  
"Fox. It is not safe here. You must come with me. I'll get out of here... climb onto my back."  
  
Along with the strange feeling Fox got with seeing Gex so out of character and non-humerous, Fox hopped up onto Gex's back and clung on around his neck. Soon, it would be for dear life, as Gex coiled up that long tail of his...  
  
SSSSSPROING!  
  
Up they went! Gex soared into the air, effectively forcing Fox to hang on for dear life. He did a double-backflip that was initiated in the middle of the air, and landed gracefully on the ground. He literally hit the ground RUNNING... on all four feet, scuttling along like a mad...Gecko. Fox looked up ahead, and saw a small, sleek Dropship waiting for them.  
  
Gex suddenly held his ear, as if listening to an internal voice speaking to him.  
  
"Go," Gex said to Fox. "Get in! Company will be along soon!"  
  
A group of prison guards were chasing after the mad Gecko, and Fox himself hadn't even noticed them until he was safe inside the Ship. He watched as Gex fought them... 5 of them at once, to be exact. It was a sight to behold.  
  
The first thing that happened was one of the guards raising his Stun-Laser and yelling "Surrender, or we'll shoot!"  
  
Gex got his charm back for a moment. He stepped forward, dramatically raising his hands. "I surrender!"  
  
Oh, boy, Fox thought.  
  
BAM!  
  
Gex had lept up and thwacked the first guard with his tail! He sailed backwards and hit a second guard. They were both KO'ed. Then, Gex quickly kicked a piece of debris from the explosion into one of the other guards, who was immediately knocked backwards! Gex then did something Fox thought impossible... he ran up to the Prison wall and sprinted across it! The most impressive part about that was, he did it bipedal-like... that's on two legs. But Gex could only accomplish that on FOUR legs. What was going on?  
  
Anyways, the move looked cool. As Gex sprinted along the wall, the remaining two guards fired off a couple of Laser shots... all missing him. Gex landed and grabbed the nearest one, taking control of his Stunner while using the Guard himself as a shield as he fired Laser-Blasts at the other guard. After two or three shots, the other guard was knocked out. Gex finally used his tail to konk the Guard he was holding over the head, KO'ing him as well. It was over before it had even started.  
  
Fox was impressed. REALLY impressed. He'd never seen Gex fight like THAT before. Heck, he'd never seen Gex that strong before. How could Gex suddenly jump so high and run along walls, defying the laws of gravity like that? And how had his muscles become so... muscular? And how could he evade Stunner fire in such an easy manner as if time had slowed down? It seemed almost... inhuman. No, it was actually... ingecko. Anyways.  
  
Gex finally returned to the ship. Fox immediately posed his questions. How had Gex gotten so good? What was his secret?  
  
Gex responded, "Those questions aren't for now. You know you're an outlaw, right?"  
  
Uh-oh. Fox went all sarcastic. "NAW... maybe the fact that I was in the SLAMMER should've given me a clue, huh?"  
  
Gex's expression went a bit sour. "Hey... if anyone's making the quips around here, it SHOULD be me."  
  
"What?! You've been incredibly serious this whole entire time! Not once have you made a single funny comment!"  
  
"Ooooh. Well, I'm bottling it all up for later. I'm planning to put on clown shoes and turn cartwheels once we're out of here."  
  
Now Fox's expression went sour. "Where are you planning to take me, anyway?"  
  
Now GEX went all sarcastic. He rolled his eyes. "To meet the White Rabbit in Wonderland."  
  
"Really."  
  
"No."  
  
"Then, WHERE are we going?"  
  
"You'll see. Besides, that shouldn't be important to you now. I just saved your warm-blooded butt from Prison, furface. So at least try to zip it until we reach the Rabbit Hole, hm?"  
  
"Whatever..."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Fox was kind of unnerved as Gex flew him out through Cornerian Airspace. Undoubtedly, the story of the "Mysterious Lizard" who had sprung Fox was spreading throughout the System like wildfire right at that moment. Also undoubtedly, The Cornerian Ministry of Defence was deploying units to intercept them right then. Fox gazed uncertainly out through his little window, gazing back at Corneria. Little did he know, it would be the last time he truely saw it in his life.  
  
Fox looked back suddenly. "Yo! Gex! They're on our tail!"  
  
"Not for long, they're not..." Gex said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Anything I can do to help you? Weapons I can fire?"  
  
Gex's phone rang. He answered it, blabbed for a second or two, then called back to Fox, "There's an emergancy Rear-Mounted Canon! Activate it at that panel over there!" Since his hands were occupied with his phone and driving, he pointed at a computer console with his tail. Fox rushed over, and activated the Canon.  
  
"Oh, man... I'll have to do this manually! There's no auto-fire!"  
  
More Gex/Cell Phone blabbing. Gex said, "Use hack code 94249! I shall repeat, 94249!"  
  
Fox obeyed. Amazingly, it worked. The Canon took potshots at the chasing CMD Units, actually taking one down. Then, THEY opened fire.  
  
TSEWW! TSEWW!  
  
"WHOA! Fox! Use hack code 73637! You got that!? We need emergancy shielding online!"  
  
Fox obeyed again. A shield sprung up around the ship, deflecting the shots of the CMD. Gex cried out to Fox one more time:...  
  
"I'm getting a drop code! Go over and check that sack in the corner!"  
  
Fox stared. Like, cartoon-type staring, with his eyes bulging out of his sockets. There was a bag of the most wicked, deadly, and accurate weapons Fox had ever seen! He immediately grabbed the largest one he could see and took potshots at the final CMD Unit from the Space-Portal. Finally, the last of the pursuing Units was gone; Gex and Fox were in the clear.  
  
"Okay, look," Fox said, dropping the gun. "How do you KNOW all this? Is that some kind of Universal Tracking device disguised as a Cell Phone or something?!"  
  
"Oh, no... the people on the other end of this line are much, much better than that... anyways. Our trip is over, have you noticed? We're here."  
  
"...That's it? You're taking me to Aquas? What, do I get to go for a swim?"  
  
"NO, No, no... you'll see."  
  
"AHA! You're going to DROWN me, aren't you?!"  
  
"Fox... why don't you trust me? I just saved you from prison, for land's sake!"  
  
"For LAND'S sake? We're on a planet that's COMPLETELY COVERED WITH WATER!!!"  
  
Gex just sighed. Let more familiar faces describe this situation to him, he reminded himself. He's just too psychotic right now for ME to try such a thing.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
The ship didn't have underwater capabilities, so Gex had to hover the ship just above the surface. They stood on the outside deck of the ship while they waited for these "friends" of Gex's.  
  
"Gex... PLEASE tell me why we're here! They've got Cornerian troops stationed on this planet! They'll find us and shoot us right off the surface of the water!  
  
"Stay calm. They'll be here soon."  
  
In reality, it would be half an hour until they had access to underwater. But Gex wasn't about to tell that to Fox. They'd be going through another battle. Not TOO large, hopefully.  
  
"SEE? They're here already!! Look at that!!!"  
  
Gex's jaw dropped. It was incredible. The size of the retrieval team was incredible! Gex had never seen anything like it! There was no WAY they'd make it out of this... Gex pulled out his phone again and made a call.  
  
"Yo! Are you reading this?"  
  
(Fox couldn't hear the response, but this is what was said...) "Of COURSE I am! That's incredible! Never would've expected that many..."  
  
"How the blinkin' hell are we going to get HIM..." he asked, as he gestured his tail wildly at Fox, "through this!? He's still... you know..."  
  
Gex then did something Fox found very odd. He started gesturing wildly at the back of his neck, as if the person he was calling knew what he was doing. How strange.  
  
(Once again, Fox didn't hear this.)"Don't WORRY, Gex. I'll drop you a pair of F-Thirty ships. Fox'll figure it out himself; he's clever. Mewtwo's still about... ten minutes away. DON'T WORRY," he said, "seeing" Gex's facial expression, "you're going to make it."  
  
Gex closed the phone. "Follow me, Fox," he said, and opened the door to the ship.  
  
It was incredible. Two F-Thirty Ships had just appeared out of nowhere! Fox was in awe... there was NO WAY Gex could've hidden those in there on the trip to Aquas.  
  
"My, look at 'em... the colour scheme is all wrong, all wrong. Red on Blue?! How fruity..."  
  
"What IS that thing!!?!?" he said, meaning the phone. "A MAGIC WAND?!?!"  
  
"Somewhat. Just get in. I trust you know how to fly this thing..."  
  
Fox just laughed in spite of his emotion. This was his dream ship... the latest model of small fighter. He'd flown it so many times in his dreams that he was like an old pro.  
  
He took the thing off expertly, flying straight up into the air after leaving the Ship's interior. He quickly moved it into All-Range mode. It handled like a dream; pinpoint turning, perfect acceleration, turbo and brakes, spectacular fuel capacity, and its barrel roll had the ability to repel almost any weapon imaginable; even bombs and whatnot. It was gorgeous. And he hadn't even tried the weapon system out yet... but he'd have to soon.  
  
BUZZEEP! "INCOMING!" Gex warned.  
  
The Cornerian Squad surrounded them from all sides.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Gex... there's gotta be at least thirty opponents we have here!"  
  
BUZZEEP! Gex responded, all sarcasm. "I KNOW... it HARDLY seems fair..."  
  
A ship contacted them, supposedly the leader of the squad.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Well, outlaws! As you can see, you're surrounded by an array of at least thirty much lesser-armed, nameless goonies! Will you surrender?!"  
  
BUZZEEP! "Why should we? It's nameless goonies like you that the author creates for the sole purpose of being punching bags for the protagonists!"  
  
*Static Ensued On The Enemy Frequency*  
  
Fox and Gex used this uncomfortable silence to attack! They both flew upwards. Fox fired off a bomb. This was a sleek, silver-coated destruction device, exclusive to the F-Thirty. Its blast radius was quite large, and Fox barely had time to get out of the way before it detonated.  
  
BOOOOM!  
  
At least fifteen enemy ships were instantly down. By now, Gex had circled around, and started firing down at the stunned ships. He took out some of the damaged ones that had been glanced by the bomb. It was now 10 ships versus our... protagonists.  
  
Unfortunately, Fox had used his... ONLY bomb. The one downside of the F-Thirty was that although its bombs were incredibly powerful, it could only carry one at a time. Fox then relied on this duel Hyper-Lasers to carve his way through the opposing fleet. He destroyed half of the remaining force before they could even move.  
  
BUZZEEP! "Heads up, Fox! I'm sending in MY bomb..."  
  
And sure enough, that silver-tinted ball of energy flew towards the remaining ships, stupidly clustered together. Fox gunned it in the opposite direction...  
  
BOOOOM!  
  
"Pish! And here I got the impression that this battle was going to be impossibly hard... what a joke!"  
  
The ships were immediately dissintigrated. Fox and Gex swerved back around, and landed the F-Thirty fighters back into their ship.  
  
"Holy COW! Gex, I've NEVER flown a ship that good before! Wow! This is a story for the guys when I get back to..."  
  
It suddenly dawned on Fox that he may never see any of "the guys" ever again. Falco... he had just returned! And Mewtwo, who had saved his life... Ganondorf, whom he had battled through hell with... and, of course, Samus...  
  
Gex seemed to read his mind. "Don't worry, Fox. You WILL see your friends again. I guarentee it."  
  
"How is that possible? I'm an outlaw! If they DO see me again, chances stand they'll just turn me in to the Cornerian..."  
  
"No, no they won't. You'll understand all this really quite shortly. Look, see up there? Our assistance is already here. Time to go."  
  
It was true. A large ship approached from above; it appeared to be quite oval-shaped, and its appearance suggested to Fox that it had underwater capabilities. Fox assumed from Gex's words that it wasn't hostile... if it was, they were both royally screwed.  
  
But, as it turns out, it was about the exact opposite. 


	10. Part Ten: The Truth

PART TEN: THE TRUTH  
  
The ship slowly descended into the water. Fox was only slightly intimidated with its size; he had seen bigger. Like that Mothership battle on Katina, with Bill. What a mess that was.  
  
Raindrops started to fall on the surface of Aquas. It was pretty cold, and the rain was already matting Fox's fur. He hoped that the darn ship would land soon, so he could get out of the rain.   
  
It plopped down into the surf. A giant tidal wave of water washed over the ship... Gex barely grabbed Fox and lept over it before it consumed their ship. Gex landed gracefully, Fox in tow, on top of the Submarine-Ship. In one swift movement, Gex thrusted the cabin door open with his tail, but before letting Fox in, he spoke to him...  
  
"Let me give you one piece of advice... be honest. He knows more than you can imagine."  
  
Gex then gestured for Fox to enter. Fox did, and laid his eyes on the dfigure standing inside the door.  
  
It was Mewtwo! Thunder clapped outside from the storm, eerily lighting up his face. Fox noticed that, like Gex, he was now wearing a pair of designer Sunglasses. It really made him appear... there was no other word for it... cooler.  
  
"Welcome, Fox. At last. I thought this day would NEVER come... anyway. Please, follow me."  
  
The three of them strode through the ship, the watertight door sealing behind them. Fox shook himself off a bit, to get the rain out of his fur.  
  
"No, please... allow me."  
  
Mewtwo pulled a flat-looking device from a storage room. Fox looked at it curiously. Suddenly, lasers erupted from one end of it and swept over Star Fox, removing the rain.  
  
Fox nodded. "Pretty impressive."  
  
Mewtwo just replaced the device and kept going. Finally, he opened a door, and inside was the bridge, where the ship was controlled from. Mewtwo hovered down into a cushy chair, and gestured for Fox to sit down in the other. A table sat between them, a single glass of water sitting on it.  
  
Mewtwo spoke. "First of all, don't be fooled... Gex over there is MY boss, not vice versa. He just wanted me to talk to you becuase I'm "more familiar"... I suspect he's just lazy. But anyways. Fox, do you know why you're here?"  
  
"What? Well, I just got sprung from prison by Gex there, and we've been running from the Cornerian..."  
  
"Yes, I know that. But that isn't really why you're HERE. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain; but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life... that there's something WRONG with the universe. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Well, sort of, anyway."  
  
Fox nodded. He knew what Mewtwo was talking about. How did he know that? Wait... he was psychic. Right.  
  
"Do you know what I'm talking about?"  
  
"Um... not really."  
  
Mewtwo sighed. "Oh well. So much for the complete rip off of that famous movie scene. I'm talking about THE MATRIX, Fox. The MATRIX."  
  
Fox's face twisted into a confused expression. "The Matrix? What's the Matrix?"  
  
Mewtwo glared at him a bit. "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. Now do you want to know WHAT it is?"  
  
Fox nodded again.  
  
"Alright. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back."  
  
Mewtwo leaned closer, and opened up his hands. In each hand, he held a small, oval-shaped object. Pills, Fox thought.  
  
"You take the red pill, the story ends, you'll wake up at home and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the blue pill, you stay in wonderland... and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."  
  
"Okay, WHY is there so much reference to "rabbit holes" and "wonderland" in this Fiction?! It's so corny!!"  
  
Mewtwo sighed. Again. "Listen, Fox, once again you have succeeded in ruining my copyright-violating spree. Just pick a freaking pill."  
  
Fox stared at the pills, thinking. Well, he didn't really have anything left here. What did he have to lose?  
  
But his friends... Samus... Falco... Ganondorf... the rest of his team... no matter how outlawed he was, he still wanted to see them again. He didn't want to lose THEM. He'd wake up in his Great Fox and be with them all again.  
  
He reached for the red pill.  
  
"Remember... all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."  
  
Fox stopped for a second. Did he really want to just throw away this one oppertunity to rid himself of all his uncertainties? It was almost too much. Well... his friends COULD live without him... no. He didn't NEED them. He was his own animal. Time to stand up for that.  
  
Fox grabbed the blue pill instead, and washed it down with a glass of water that was sitting on the table. Mewtwo sensed Gex nodding in approval. Right, this was going perfectly now. Smooth as silk.  
  
Mewtwo hovered up. "All right. Wait here. We'll arrive shortly."  
  
Fox wondered, "Where?"  
  
Mewtwo read his mind. "At our destination. I'm sorry, Fox, I can't tell you any more. But I can tell you this: I can only SHOW you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it."  
  
He hovered back to the front of the ship and pressed a few buttons. The entire ship instantly sank down into the water, converting into a large submerine! Fox stared out the small window in wonder, watching random fish and plants float by. Memories of HIS submarine expeditions on Aquas came floating back to him. It was such a polluted mess then... now, the Cornerian Pollution Control team had completely cleared the water of Andross's filth. It was crystal clear and teeming with interesting life... meaning Fox was kept 100% entertained until they reached their destination, which actually took much less time than Fox thought it would.  
  
"We're here. Fox, come with me."  
  
Fox followed Mewtwo and Gex back up to the door where they entered the ship. Fox found a glass tunnel awaiting him on the other side of the door this time. It was amazing to walk through this tunnel and see right up to the surface. Ten years ago, he wouldn't have been able to see three feet on every side of him.  
  
Finally, the glass tunnel ended in a large steel door. It didn't appear to have any mechanism to open it whatsoever... no detectors or anything. Fox wondered how they were going to get in.  
  
"Remember, Fox," Mewtwo spoke, "I can only SHOW you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it."  
  
Fox assumed that he knock on the door, although he thought that would be futile; no sound would make it through something this reinforced. Fox reached for the door, and just as his paw came up to knock...  
  
It opened.  
  
And there stood Samus.  
  
"Hello, Fox. You're right on time."  
  
Despite her unenthusiastic greeting, her actions spoke more realistically as she embraced him tightly. Fox smiled to himself as he stroked her long blonde hair, wondering how the heck all his friends were involved in this... this... conspiracy! Posatively alarming... but what the heck.  
  
Samus led them inside. This wasn't a ship; rather, an underwater hideaway... thing. It just consisted of one large, glass dome, containing only one door. Fox looked around at its surroundings, it contained a lot of strange equiptment, and a few chairs here and there.  
  
Fox was led over to a specific chair near the middle of the room. Machines ran on all sides of him. It was making him pretty dizzy, until a figure stepped out from behind one of the machines. Falco.  
  
"WHAT the HECK... okay, look. I can understand Mewtwo being involved with this Gecko, he's always been wierd. And I guess seeing Falco here isn't that strange either, I have no idea of what HE'S been up to for the past eight years. But Samus?! What's going on!?!?"  
  
"Look," Falco said calmly (he also was wearing a pair of stylish sunglases), "We're almost finished with ya, all right? Okay, buddy, how about this... I swear to you that everything will be explained to you in a few minutes, all right? If we don't, you can hurt me."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
He sighed? "Come on, Fox. Trust us. Please?"  
  
"Guh... okay. FINE. But if just one more familiar figure pops out at me in the next five minutes, I'm going to be really cheesed off..."  
  
But, as it turns out, that was the end of the surprises for the next five minutes. As Samus attached some vital-monitering equiptment to Fox, he gestured to the room at her.  
  
"Did you do all THIS?"  
  
"Mmmm-hm. Well, to an extent, yeah. I designed part of it."  
  
Fox found the use of the verb "design" odd, but he didn't comment.  
  
"Okay, Fox, listen up," Gex said to him sharply, making him jump. "The pill you took was part of a trace program. It disrupts your input/output carriar signals so we can pinpoint your location."  
  
"What the heck does that mean?"  
  
"It means... oh, to hell with it. I'm not going to rip off a Matrix quote like the rest of you clowns," Falco said.  
  
"Hey!" Samus protested, "I only did that ONCE so far! Okay... twice..."  
  
"That's enough fooling around," Mewtwo cut in on all of them. "We have work to do."  
  
"That's right," Gex said, gesturing at a computer console. "Get us online, Mewtwo."  
  
"Shouldn't take long."  
  
"You see, Fox," Gex said, turning to Fox, "Time is always against us. We'll have to work fast. If we take too long, we'll be traced down to this place."  
  
Fox nodded. That made sense to him. He turned to Mewtwo's computer console, it was still connecting. He then turned around to see a mirror. It was shattered into pieces.  
  
Before his eyes, it fixed itself.  
  
"Did you...?" Fox said, not realising what was happening. Did Mewtwo repair that? And why? Fox had to know. He decided to touch it. Just to see.  
  
He reached out his fingers. Instead of finding a hard surface like they should have, they found a gooey, silvery, cold substance. He immediately tugged his fingers free. The goop stuck to the edges of his fingers, even after he broke away from the mirror.  
  
Then Gex spoke again. "Have you ever had a dream, Fox, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world, and the real world.  
  
The goop was spreading across his hand, now. It seemingly encased his hand in a silvery glove.  
  
Fox was stunned. "This can't be..."  
  
"Be what?" Gex asked. "Be real?"  
  
Samus spoke now. She was also staring at a computer moniter. "It's going into replication."  
  
Gex turned to Mewtwo. "Mewtwo?"  
  
"Still nothing," Mewtwo said.  
  
The goop expanded up Fox's arm. "It's cold," Fox shivered. "It's cold!"  
  
Gex now flipped open his phone. "Phantom, we're going to need a signal soon."  
  
Samus spoke again. "We've got fibrillation."  
  
Gex put down the phone again. "Mewtwo, location."  
  
"Targeting almost there," Mewtwo muttered, obviously distracted with his duty.  
  
"It's going into arrest," Samus called out to the group.  
  
The goop made its way up Fox's neck, to his head. It was already creeping up to his mouth... Fox was shivering uncontrollably now. Why didn't they DO anything?  
  
Finally, Mewtwo's screen flashed green. "Lock!" He yelled. "I've got him!"  
  
Gex spoke into the phone again. "Now, Phantom! Now!"  
  
Finally, the goop found Fox's mouth. It flooded down his throat, almost seeming to turn solid, choking him. Fox let out a petrifying scream, slamming his eyes shut. This was the end...  
  
*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-*-.~^~_-  
  
...as he brought his hands up to his mouth. Suddenly, his eyes opened again. Wait, this couldn't be right... he was lying in a metal box. It almost seemed like a metal coffin. How did he get here? And what was this...? He brought his hands to his jaws, reached into his throat and pulled out... a long pipe. Choking, he sat up, pressing his hands against the top of the box...  
  
The lid of the box just disappeared. What?! Fox was still blinking as he examined the box. It was made of stainless steel, with tubes poking out every which way... connected to his body! Fox couldn't believe his eyes. What had they done to him? These... things were hooked all over his body... not to mention he wasn't wearing any clothes anymore. And hey... where was he?  
  
It was then he looked around.  
  
And he saw... creatures. Humans, animals alike. All within these stainless steel boxes with semi-invisible lids. All unclothed. And all of them had the same tubes attached to their bodies. Not only that... there were millions of them.  
  
No. Billions.  
  
Endless walls contained endless rows of these boxes. Billions and billions of boxes. Fox's head was spinning completely out of control. It was just too crazy. He held his pounding head... suddenly realising that there was something strapped around his neck. How odd.  
  
Wait... something approached him! A mechanical robot descended from above, grabbing the device that fit around his neck like a collar. Fox squirmed, unable to breathe. He was at its mercy.  
  
Suddenly, it pulled out a gun and aimed it at Fox's neck. Yes, he thought. Let it end.  
  
The gun fired.  
  
And hit the collar-device. Fox screamed, thinking that it would be the last sound he would ever make, but instead of damaging HIM, the collar fell off. The gun now aimed at each of the tubes on his body, and shot them off, one by one. Fox let out a small yelp after each one; it appeared as though parts of his body were being shot off, though he didn't have any idea why he drew that conclusion.  
  
Finally, he was completely disconnected from the box. Suddenly... TOO suddenly... the back of the box disappeared, and the box itself tilted back... causing Fox to slide backwards through the wall! Fox screamed as he slid down this passage... seemingly eternal... and finally being flung into a large sewer... thing. Fox struggled to keep his head on the surface, but he honestly couldn't find the strength. He gave up, and sank.  
  
A light emmitted from out of the darkness above him. Before he knew it, a claw fell from the light, grabbing him and reeling him up out of the water. He drew in precious oxygen again.  
  
The claw dragged him up into another room. He couldn't tell where he was, it was too blurry. However, he did notice blurry creatures removing him from the claw, and wrapping him in blankets. Before he knew it, he saw none other than...  
  
Gex. Just before he lost conciousness, Gex spoke to him...  
  
"Welcome to the real world." 


End file.
